


The Green Eyed Girl

by EJWalters



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Lots of Stuff, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-23
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2020-10-01 18:38:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 38,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20368270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EJWalters/pseuds/EJWalters
Summary: Margaret Hale is an American artist who is participating in a foreign exchange program in England. When a blue Police Box appears out of nowhere, her life changes forever.





	1. Chapter 1

Margaret Hale was an ordinary girl with an ordinary life. Raised by a loving mom and dad in America with an older brother and a younger one and a little sister, too. The four of them grew up in a bilingual household, their father being an immigrant and their mother having been born and raised in the States. They were very good at teaching their children to embrace both sides of their heritage. When she was growing up, little Margaret wanted to be an artist when she “grew up”. She also didn’t realize her name wasn’t actually Maggie until she was four years old. So, that’s what she was doing. She enrolled in a foreign exchange program and started art school in England.

She was at lunch when she looked out the window of the little cafe she was in and saw a blue box with the words “Police Box” painted in white letters appear out of thin air. She blinked quickly, but it didn’t go away. She stared at it for a few moments before doing what any artist would do: satisfy their curiosity. She dropped a tenner on the table and hurried out across the street to look at the box.

Walking around it in a circle, she found that it wasn’t an illusion. She pressed her hand against it. It was real, alright. She knocked on the sides. It was definitely as wooden as it looked. She tried the door. Locked. She frowned, wondering what would have made a phone box appear out of the blue. She chuckled to herself then, realizing that the box was actually blue. She sat on the ground a few meters away from the box and pulled a small sketchbook and a pencil out of her bag. Maggie opened up to the next blank page and started sketching the mystery box in front of her. She glanced up at it every now and then to make sure she got the details as right as she could. She sketched it from many different angles, being sure to make it as correct as possible.

“That looks just like it!@ a voice said over her shoulder. 

Maggie jumped in surprise and looked over her shoulder to find a man in a blue suit and a tan trench coat with his hands in his pockets, looking at her drawing with intrigue in his deep brown eyes. “You think?”

“Oh yeah! It’s very good,” he complimented.

“Thank you!”

“Why are you drawing it ?” The man suddenly asked.

“You’re going to think I’m mad,” she said.

“Try me,” was all he said in reply. And there was something in his eyes that told her he would believe her when she told him what she had seen. She couldn’t quite place what it was. Maybe that hint of mischief behind the spark of amusement. Or perhaps the wisdom that hid the secrets of a thousand years. Whatever it was, she knew he would believe her. 

“I was sitting in that cafe over there having lunch,” Maggie pointed it out to the man, “And I looked outside and I saw the box appear out of nowhere. So I can to investigate.”

“What did your friends think?” The man asked.

“What?”

“The fiends you were having lunch with. What did they think?”

Maggie shook her head, “It was just me.”

“Ah,” he looked a little sad before seeming to snap back to the present, “So what did you find when you investigated?”

“Not much. It’s a box that appeared out of the blue and the door’s locked,” Maggie reported.

The man pulled a hand out of his pocket and revealed a key hidden within his grasp, “Well, good thing I can open it, eh?”

Maggie got to her feet, putting her sketchbook and pencil back in her bag, “This is your box then?”

“Yeah. Why else would I have the key?” He grinned. 

She laughed and shrugged, “I dunno. Could have stolen it.”

His smile widened, making the corners of his eyes crinkle, “So. Wanna see inside?”

“Yes I do,” Maggie said decidedly. 

The man grinned, “Brilliant,” and unlocked the door before stepping inside. 

Maggie cautiously peaked around the door and looked around in awe at what she saw inside. The room was far bigger that what she would have thought the inside of a Police Box to look. If she were being honest, though, she was only half surprised at what she saw. After all, it had appeared out of nowhere. She stepped into the box and looked around as she walked further into it.

“So? What do you think?” The man asked, leaning against a tall thing smack dab in the center of the room. 

Maggie turned to him and grinned, “It’s fantastic! This changes everything we know about physics and space and stuff…” she trailed off, “That sentence didn’t end as eloquently as I thought it would,” she muttered. 

He smiled, “I’m the Doctor by the way.”

“Margaret Hale.”

“Well, Maggie, this is the Tardis. Stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space.”

“So you’re saying it can travel through time?” Maggie asked. 

“And anywhere in the universe you want to go,” the Doctor said, “People usually focus on the ‘space’ bit.”

Maggie turned in a circle and walked closer to the Doctor, “I’m guessing you’re not exactly human then?”

“Nope,” he popped the p, “I’m an alien. Called a Time Lord.”

“But you look human,” Maggie said. 

“Yes. Or perhaps you look like a Time Lady,” he countered.

She laughed, “Tu che. So what are the difference between humans and Time Lords? How are you different from me?”

“Well for one, I have two hearts instead of one. For another, I don’t die. I regenerate. Change my body out for a new one. And there a few other things, but that’s the two major differences.”

She nodded, tucking those bits of information away to use later.

The Doctor smiled and started walking around the controls and messing with things, “So, Margaret Hale. Anywhere and anytime you can go, where or when do you want to go to?”

She blinked, “Me? You’re offering to take me anywhere I want to go?”

“Yeah.”

“But, I’m no one special. I’m not important. Why me?”

He looked at her, then. Right into her forest green eyes with a gaze so intense she couldn’t look away if she tried, “Ive been traveling for over nine hundred years and I’ve never met anyone who wasn’t important.”

She let out a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding, “Okay.”

Then that brilliant smile of his was back as if it had never been gone in the first place, “Besides, I want to. So, where to Miss Hale?”

Maggie grinned, “Florence, Italy, 1500.”

The Doctor grinned right back at her, “You want to meet Da Vinci don’t you?”

Maggie nodded, “Yes I do. Is that possible, Doctor?”

“Oh it’s more than possible,” he started to flip more switches on the center console, “Alons-y!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this chapter is super duper long, sooooo....

After being thrown around the Tardis for a few moments, the room steadied and the Doctor looked at Maggie with an expectant smile.

“Go on then, Maggie,” he encouraged. 

She grinned and went to the door of the Tardis, opening it and gasping in awe, “Italy!”

“Yep. Florence to be exact. The year 1500,” the Doctor said over her shoulder, “Just like you asked.”

She smiled at him over her shoulder, startled by how close he was to her, but not minding much, “Do I need to change?”

“Never.”

She giggled, “I meant my clothes.”

“Oh. Right. Nah. Unless you want to. Now, come on. Let’s go see what Florence has in store for us!” The Doctor grabbed her hand and pulled her out the door along with him. 

Maggie felt bad because she kept stopping every few moments to get a rough sketch of whatever or whoever had caught her attention, with the intention of fleshing out the sketch later. The Doctor waved off her apologies and actually encouraged her endeavor, pointing out different things he thought would interest her enough to capture on paper. Maggie was surprised by his reaction, having always had people be annoyed by this little habit of hers as opposed to actually encouraging her. There was one point where the light and the background were just right that Maggie told the Doctor to freeze before adjusting his position a bit and then sitting on the ground and drawing him right there in the middle of the road. She smiled to herself when he did as she asked and waited patiently for her to draw until she was satisfied with the outline she would flesh out later. He told her some bits of history about where they were and cracked jokes as he stood and waited for her to be satisfied with what she had gotten done on her paper. 

“Thank you,” She said when she was done. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever met such an enthusiastic artist before,” he commented.

She flushed, “Is that a bad thing?”

He grinned at her, “Not at all. Now, you wanted to meet Signor Da Vinci, yes?”

She nodded, “Yes.”

“Let’s go find him, then,” the Doctor encouraged. 

Thankfully, he waited for Maggie to put her sketchbook and pencil away, making a mental note to keep one in one of the pockets of his coat if Maggie stuck around. He knew how forgetful artists could be. When she was all packed up, he offered her his arm and the two of them set off to find Leonardo Da Vinci.

The two of them got a little turned around a few times and had to stop for directions more than once, but they finally made it to Da Vinci’s workshop. 

The Doctor walked confidently up to the door and knocked while Maggie started wringing her hands, nervously chewing lip. 

“What’s wrong?” Asked the Doctor. 

Maggie looked up at him, “What will I say, Doctor? I can’t just start gushing about how much of a fan I am of his work. And I don’t know what he’s done yet and what he hasn’t done yet,” She started pacing, letting herself get a bit worked up about meeting one of the men in history she had always wanted to meet, “And what if he doesn’t like me? And then there’s the fact that I’m an artist, too. What if he wants to see some of my work? What if he looks at it and he hates it- wait. I haven’t spoken Italian in a long time. I know I’m really rusty. What if I make a complete fool of myself?”

“I think you’ve done a great job of Italian so far, my dear,” said a voice from the door. 

Maggie’s head snapped up and she found the door the Doctor had knocked on had been opened by an old man wearing a kind smile. 

“Leonardo Da Vinci,” She said reverently. 

“In the flesh.”

Her mouth opened and closed like a fish for a moment before the Doctor stepped in, saving her.

“This is Maggie. I’m the Doctor. How do you do, signoré?” The Doctor asked smoothly. 

“I’m fine, thank you. Is she alright?” Da Vinci frowned at her in worry. 

“Yeah she’s alright. Give her just a moment and she’ll be back to normal,” the Doctor said confidently for a man who had just met her. 

“I see,” Da Vinci then turned to Maggie, “You said you’re an artist yourself?”

Maggie swallowed and nodded, “Yes, sir.”

Leonardo smiled kindly, “Why don’t the two of you come in and we can exchange notes?”

Maggie stared dumbly. 

The Doctor swooped in to save her again, “That would be lovely.”

Maggie shook herself, “Yes that sounds wonderful, thank you.”

Leonardo moved out of the way so that Maggie and the Doctor could step inside before closing the door behind them, “So, my dear, what mediums do you use?”

“Mostly pencil or charcoal on paper,” she answered, “I haven’t finds for much else.”

“Well, depending on my opinion of your work, I might be able to recommend you to a good family who would pay you well,” Da Vinci said. 

“That’s very kind of you, but I’m afraid we’re only passing through,” the Doctor said. 

“I see.”

They reached a large room with tables placed haphazardly around, each cluttered with the supplies needed for whatever project was laid atop them. One table held scattered papers with different sketches captured on them and notebooks filled with ideas for safekeeping. Maggie felt herself drawn to this table. She walked over to it and started looking over the papers before glancing over her shoulder at Da Vinci.

“Do you mind?” she asked.

“Not at all, my dear. Look at whatever you want, so long as nothing leaves this room,” he encouraged.

Maggie smiled and returned to her study of the contents of the table, pushing her big, round glasses up her nose with a finger against the bridge. Every drawing was just as beautiful as the last.

The Doctor went to investigate the table covered in art supplies and found a canvas with a familiar background, but nothing else captured eternally in paint, “What’s this going to be, then?”

Da Vinci looked at what had captured the Doctor’s attention, “I was hoping a woman, but I haven’t found the right one yet.”

The Doctor looked at Maggie, “What about her?”

“Maggie?”

“Yes. She’ll be there for hours if you let her,” he said. He was right, of course, but again, he was very confident in his knowledge of a woman he had just met.

The Renaissance Man looked at Maggie for a long moment before nodding to himself, “Yes, you’re right. She’s perfect.”

“You could draw her without the glasses, too, if you feel so inclined,” the Doctor suggested.

Da Vinci nodded, muttering to himself as he started to work on preparing the materials necessary for the project. He angled himself in a way that he could paint Maggie without having to move too much while he did so.

“What are you painting with?” the Doctor asked.

“Oil, earth, and bits of lead on poplar,” the artist answered as he began to sketch the outline of Maggie’s face with his paintbrush.

“Ah,” was all the Doctor said. That confirmed the future of this painting.

Leonardo continued to paint Maggie onto the poplar canvas as she continued to look over his works that were spread across the table she was standing at. After he had outlined her face, he outlined it with her wild curly hair before beginning to paint her face in detail. All the while, Maggie was oblivious to both the passage of time and the face that Da Vinci had busied himself with painting her face as she studied his work. The Doctor found things to busy himself with as the two artists worked on their separate activities.

After quite some time, Maggie made her way over to Da Vinci, “What are you working on now?”

“See for yourself,” Leonardo stepped aside so that she could see what had been captured in paint.

Maggie gasped, “But that’s-”

“I do hope you don’t mind. The Doctor recommended that I paint you and I found you to be the perfect model,” Leonardo explained.

Maggie looked up at the Doctor, but he only winked at her.

“Signore, it’s wonderful, but I’m afraid you’ve made me too beautiful,” Maggie insisted.

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” the Doctor said.

“Your husband is right, Maggie,” Leonardo agreed.

“No, he’s not my husband,” Maggie corrected.

“But if he’s not your husband, then why are the two of you travelling together?” he asked.

Maggie floundered for an answer, but failed to come up with one. How could she tell him that she had met him only a few hours prior and they had traveled through time and space together to get to where they were right in that moment?

The Doctor saved her once again, “We’re just very good friends, is all. She said she wanted to travel the world and I have the means to make that happen, so I thought to myself, why not? And then I thought why not go with her? So here we are!”

Maggie smiled at him gratefully, “Here we are.”

Leonardo gave them a knowing smile, “As you say. But in the case that you are unmarried, I insist you both call me Leonardo.”

They smiled at him.

“Now. You’ve more than seen my work, I believe we agreed on a trade of sorts?” he reminded.

Maggie flushed, “Yes, but I’m afraid my work pales in comparison to yours.”

“I do hope you’ll allow me to be the judge of that myself, missy,” Leonardo held his hand out expectantly.

Maggie’s blush deepened as she fished in her bag for her sketchbook before pulling it out and placing it in Da Vinci’s waiting hand, “Many of them are unfinished-” she started.

Leonardo cut her off, “As are many of the things on that table you were looking at.”

Maggie bit her lip as she watched Leonardo Da Vinci himself flip through the pages of her sketchbook.

“Who are they?” he pointed at a drawing of a man and woman.

“My parents.”

He kept going, asking who the different people in her book were. She answered honestly. Her older brother Milo, her little brother Benny, her little sister Leland. She listed off the different friends she had back home in the United States before she had moved to England for her exchange program that she had drawn in her book and named the places she had drawn as well. Big Ben, the Thames, London Tower, St James’ Park. There were other places, too. The Empire State Building, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty, Chelsea’s Market. Places from home. There were also places she wanted to go like the Eiffel Tower, the Colosseum, Taj Mahall, and others. Mostly, though, her drawings were of the places around where she lived.

As Leonardo continued flipping through the pages of her sketchbook, Maggie got more and more nervous as he had yet to make any comment on her drawings. She realized she felt like a student awaiting a grade from a teacher that had a great impact on her marks for the class. All she could do was wait for Da Vinci to deliver his verdict.

“These are fantastic,” he said at last.

Maggie let out a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding, “Really?”

“Yes! The attention to detail is incredible and the shading is truly awesome,” he complimented.

“Thank you, signore,” she said, smiling widely.

He pointed to an unfinished drawing of the Doctor that she had started earlier, “Why didn’t you finish this one?”

“Oh, I was going to finish it later. We’ve been busy and I haven’t had the time to finish it just yet.”

“Would you finish it now?” he asked, “Or would you prefer to start something new?”

Maggie grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil and sat on a stool. She looked around the room, trying to find the Doctor.

“What are you going to draw?” said a voice right beside her ear.

Maggie started and nudged the Doctor with her elbow, “You, if you stop scaring me like that. That’s the second time today!”

Leonardo chuckled, “If you would be willing to pose for her, Doctor,” he gestured to a stool positioned across from the table Maggie was seated at, “I asked out Maggie to allow me to watch her create something.”

“Of course.”

The Doctor sat where Da Vinci had indicated and allowed Maggie to position him the way she wanted him before sitting as patiently as he could while she drew him.

Leonardo watched as the pencil flew over the paper as Maggie drew. The detail of it was exquisite. It only took her an hour to complete the piece.

“Incredible,” Da Vinci complimented.

Maggie flushed, “Thank you.”

“May I?” the Doctor asked from his seat.

“I-i suppose.”

The Doctor stood and walked around the table, pulling a pair of glasses out of his pocket and putting them on his nose. He looked down at Maggie’s drawing and then glanced at Maggie herself.

“This only to you an hour to do?” he asked, “Blimey.”

She gave a small smile.

“It’s like looking in a mirror,” he continued, “Well, not exactly, but the sentiment is the same.”

She giggled, “So you like it, then?”

“Yes I do. Very much,” he smiled at her, an idea popping into his head, “What if I draw you?”

“Me? Why would you want to draw me?” Maggie asked.

The Doctor gave her a crooked smile, “Come on. I’ve drawn you loads of times at home. Why is here any different?”

She rolled her eyes and scolded, “Doctor.”

He shrugged, “Because you’re beautiful.” He said it as though it were a fact, indisputable fact that could not be argued with, “And to return the favor.”

She flushed at the flattery, “Alright, then.”

The Doctor delicately took her hand and led her to the stool he had previously occupied. He adjusted the way she sat with a gentle touch until she sat in a way that he was satisfied with and then took his place before the blank paper, picking up the pencil. He looked at Maggie for a few moments before seeming to decide where to begin. He scratched the pencil across the paper carefully, making sure to get every detail of Maggie just right. His brow furrowed right in the middle from concentration and his eyes were intense and focused on the task at hand. For a moment, Maggie thought he was putting on a show to then jokingly present a stick man as the finished project, but he had been drawing for far too long for that to be the case. Somehow, this made her nervous. She sat as still as she could, but she knew she probably was failing horribly at that task. But the Doctor never complained and never corrected the way she was sitting even though they all knew she had moved. Leonardo struck up conversation with her to ease her mind and after a while, they were both laughing and telling eachother jokes. The Doctor continued to draw, but now the tension was gone from Maggie and she could relax. She no longer was closed off and fidgety as her body was filled with anxiety. Instead, she was open and smiling as she and Da Vinci talked with eachother. No one knew how much time passed as the Doctor scratched away with his pencil. It didn’t matter. When he was finally done, he dropped his pencil on the table and leaned back to look at his work in satisfaction.

“There we are. One Maggie Hale captured on paper,” he announced.

Maggie looked at him in surprise, “I actually forgot you were drawing me,” she laughed.

He smiled, satisfied with himself, “That’s why I had Signor Da Vinci start talking to you.”

Her mouth formed an ‘o’ as she realized he had tricked her, before shaking herself, “May I see it?”

“If you like,” the Doctor took a step back to give her some room to do so.

Maggie slipped off the stool and made her way over to where the Doctor had been drawing and gave a little gasp at what she saw. The Doctor had drawn her mid-laugh and had captured her beautifully.

She looked up at him, nearly speechless, “This is how you see me?”

“So far, yes.”

“She’s as beautiful here as she is in real life,” Leonardo complimented.

If Maggie wasn’t blushing before, she certainly was now, “You’re too kind.”

“Not nearly,” Leonardo looked out the window, “It’s getting late. Do the two of you have a place to stay the night?”

Maggie looked to the Doctor who shook his head with an amused smile, “Our Maggie here was too excited to meet you, we completely forgot to make arrangements.”

“Well then the two fo you are more than welcome to stay here for the night,” Da Vinci offered.

“Thank you.”

“It’s no problem at all. Although, I’m afraid I’ve only one extra bed,” he said.

The Doctor looked to Maggie, who said, “That shouldn’t be a problem. After all, we’ve been in tighter situations, haven’t we, Doctor?”

“Right you are,” the Doctor said.

Leonardo chuckled, “I’ll show you the room, then.”

It was small, but homely and comfortable. A relatively small be was in the center of the room with a desk under the window and a small table on either side of the bed.

“It’s lovely,” Maggie complimented.

“Thank you, my dear. I’ll leave you two to get comfortable. I’ll let you know when dinner’s ready.” With that, Leonardo left the Doctor and Maggie to themselves.

Maggie went to the window, reaching for her bag to get her sketchbook, when she realized she had forgotten it in the workshop. “I’ll be right back,” she promised as she went to go fetch it.

The Doctor nodded in acknowledgement.

Maggie went into the workshop and grabbed her bag. She grabbed her drawing of the Doctor and folded it up carefully before tucking it into her bag. She went to do the same with the Doctor’s drawing of her, but frowned, going to look for it and was instead distracted by Leonardo’s painting of her. She smiled at it a little before she gasped.

“No way,” she looked closer, pushing her glasses up her nose to make sure they were in place and she was actually seeing it correctly, “Oh my-”

She rushed back to the room she and the Doctor were staying in and burst through the door, “Doctor,” she gasped.

He looked up from the book he was reading at the head of the bed, a pillow between his back and the headboard, shoes and socks discarded along with his trench coat and jacket, peering at her from over the rim of his glasses, “Yes?”

“The painting Da Vinci did of me,” she started pacing, her thoughts going a million miles an hour.

The Doctor grinned, closing the book around his finger, giving her his full attention, “Ah. Finally worked it out, did you?”

“You mean to tell me that  _ I’m _ the woman in the Head of a Woman?” she asked.

He nodded, “Yep,” he said, popping the p.

Maggie blustered, “But that’s, I mean… oh my goodness.”

The Doctor watched with some amusement as she paced the length of the small room they were to be sharing, shaking her fingers through her mane of curly brown hair or wringing her hands as she worried her lip between her teeth.

After a few, long moments, he asked, “Are you alright?”

Maggie looked at him, blinking a few times as if just waking up, “Erm, yes, I suppose so.”

You know it’s alright if the answer is ‘no’, right? You don’t have to be okay all the time,” the Doctor told her.

She nodded and let out a breath, “Yes, I suppose you’re right. But I’m fine. Really. I suppose I’m just a bit overwhelmed. I mean realizing  _ you’re _ the subject of an ageless world famous painting is a little bit to come to terms with,” she sat heavily on the end of the bed.

He scooted up to sit beside her and offered a small smile, “But at least now you know why it was left unfinished.”

“Yes, that’s true,” she paused for a moment, “Wait, sorry, no. I don’t. Why is it unfinished?”

“We can’t very well stay here for as long as it would take for him to complete it. That would take weeks or months or even years to do!” the Doctor answered.

Maggie thought for a moment, “I suppose you’re right.”

The Doctor nodded and closed the book in his hands all the way, taking his glasses off, folding them, and tucking them under the thumb that was holding the book, “Let’s move up the bed and then we can have a nice long chat.”

She looked up at him, “About what?”

“You, obviously. I want to know more about you. And you’ve probably got some questions for me, you’d like answered as well, no?”

She thought for a moment, “You’re not wrong.”

They moved up the bed to where the Doctor had been before. Maggie grabbed the pillow she was about to sit on and held it in her arms while the Doctor propped his up against the headboard and leaned against it again.

“What do you want to know?” she asked.

“Do you mind that I call you Maggie? I know you told me your name was Margaret, it’s just that you don’t really look like a Margaret, you look more like a Maggie. You act more like a Maggie, too.”

She smiled and shook her head, “I don’t mind. My mum and dad call me Maggie. Always have. Didn’t know my name was Margaret until I was about four.”

The Doctor chuckled, “What happened when you were four?”

“Me and Dad were playing hide and seek and then I guess he forgot. I kept hiding and they called the police because they couldn’t find me. The only reason I came out of my hiding spot is because my mum told the operator on the phone that my name was Margaret and I corrected her and told her it was Maggie,” she explained.

He laughed, “That’s great.”

She smiled, “They think so, too, now. They didn’t back then,” she said, “What else would you like to know?”

“How old are you?”

“You’re not supposed to ask a lady her age, Doctor.”

“I’m over nine hundred years old, age honestly means nothing to me,” he said with a grin.

“Well when you put it that way,” she laughed, “I’m twenty three.”

“There. That wasn’t so hard, now was it?”

She grinned, “Any other questions for me?”

“Oh, I’ve got loads of questions. Got questions coming out of my ears, me.”

Maggie giggled, “Ask away.”

“What’s your favorite color?”

“Green.”

“Favorite book?”

“Hamlet.”

The Doctor grinned, “Good choice.”

Maggie smiled, “Thanks.”

They kept talking for a while, both asking questions about the other. They were the normal “getting to know you” kinds of questions, though the Doctor didn’t shy away from more personal inquiries. He found out that she didn’t really have many friends in England yet, that she loved to read, she used to dabble in acting, and she could sew, but she didn’t do it very often. He also found out that her dad didn’t really support her pursuit of an artistic education, saying that she was throwing away a perfectly good career.

“What career?” the Doctor asked.

“I was a medical examiner for the county back in the States. I was a pretty good one, too. I also volunteered at hospitals and clinics, looked after patients pro bono.”

“So you’re a doctor then?”

She nodded, “Just like you.”

“Doctor Margaret Hale,” he said with a smile.

She made a face, “That makes me sound like a stuffy old lady.

He laughed, “Yes it does.”

They talked more about her switch from physician to artist and how her mother supported her in what she was passionate about, but her father didn’t exactly approve. Maggie played volleyball and softball back in highschool and for a couple years in university before deciding that she needed to focus more on her studies. Maggie learned that the Doctor loved science and could talk about it for ages. She didn’t mind, though. She enjoyed listening to him, and even asked him to explain the things she didn’t quite understand, soaking up the information like a sponge. By the time Da Vinci poked his head in to announce that dinner was ready, the two of them were already very good friends and Maggie felt closer to the doctor than she had been to anyone in a very long time.


	3. Chapter 3

Over dinner, Maggie and the Doctor had a hard time convincing Da Vinci that they weren’t courting and were, in fact, just friends. Eventually, though, he relented, with an “if you say so” that showed just how much he didn’t believe them.

“That reminds me,” the Doctor said, turning to Maggie, “Has anyone tried to court you back home?”

Maggie shook her head, “Nope.”

“Oh. Really? No one? Man? Woman? Anyone?”

She shook her head, “Nada.”

The Doctor nodded, “Right, then.”

“I have had offers from both sides, though. And I would accept an offer from either side if anyone actually decent made one,” she commented off-handedly, “Although, it’s been a while since anyone made such an offer,” she blushed, “Sorry. Probably too much information.”

The Doctor gave her a small smile, “It’s alright.”

Leonardo smiled, “I’ve an eye for the men, myself. But I don’t have the time to properly court anyone. Married to my work, I’m afraid.”

Maggie smiled, “My brother’s the same way. Hasn’t got time to court anyone because he’s too busy trying to save the world.”

“Which brother is that?” the Doctor asked.

“Milo, the older one.”

He nodded, “Milo Hale. Have to remember that name. He might do something important one day,” he winked at Maggie from across the table.

After dinner, Maggie and the Doctor went to the room they were sharing and got ready for bed. Maggie unbuttoned her red and blue plaid flannel and pulled her bra out from under the black tank top she wore under it. She put the two items in a drawer and then took off her shoes and socks before climbing in bed.

“You’re sure you’re comfortable with this?” the Doctor asked.

Maggie nodded, “Positive,” she slapped the side of the bed he was to have with her hand, “Now come on, Doctor. To bed with you.”

“Doctors orders?” he asked her with a grin.

She smiled and giggled, “Yes, exactly. Come on. I don’t bite.”

“You’re positive?” he asked.

She rolled her eyes good naturedly, “I wouldn’t say I was okay with it if I wasn’t.”

He nodded, “Right. I’ll keep that in mind.”

The Doctor took off his tie, adding it to the pile of his shoes, socks, jacket, and coat, and unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt before climbing under the covers and laying beside Maggie.

“There, was that so hard?” she teased.

He chuckled, “I suppose not.”

She lay there on her back for what felt like ages - but was actually only about three minutes - before rolling on her side and whispering excitedly to the Doctor, “We just spent a whole day with Leonardo Da Vinci!”

He rolled his head to the side to look at her and grinned, “I know.”

Maggie’s smile widened, “I was the model he used for Head of a Woman.”

The Doctor nodded, “Cool, innit?”

She was full on grinning by now, “He confirmed that he was gay!” and erupted into a fit of giggles.

He joined her, “Yes he did. Although, there’s already enough evidence that anyone who says that he wasn’t is kidding themselves.”

They laughed for a while before the Doctor rolled onto his side, too and the two for them lay that way talking for hours. It was close to two in the morning when sleep finally claimed Maggie.

“Goodnight, Maggie Hale,” the Doctor said in a soft whisper, reaching over and pulling her glasses gently off her face. He set them aside and pulled the blanket up to Maggie’s shoulders before settling in to sleep.

When Maggie woke up, she was warm and comfortable. As she became more and more aware of her surroundings, she realized there was a weight around her middle and warm breath puffing on the back of her neck. Her hair was pushed up above her head, which was normal, but that meant that the person whose face was nuzzled into her neck was breathing directly on it, a sensation she wasn’t exactly used to. Maggie carefully turned in the arms of whoever was holding her and found the slightly fuzzy face of a man fast asleep. She squinted a little and then realized that it was the Doctor sleeping peacefully. His hair had fallen in his face at some point throughout the night, so she reached up and gently pushed it back. He looked so peaceful. The weight of a thousand worlds lifted from his shoulders while he slept. And, she discovered, his hair was really soft. She gently ran her fingers through it, smoothing it back. After a few minutes, she yawned and snuggled up to him, tucking her head under his chin, having decided to try to get some more sleep. The Doctor’s arms tightened around her subconsciously as he pulled in a breath and then yawned before looking down at her and chuckling.

“Well aren’t you quite the cuddler,” he said, his voice rough with leftover sleep.

“You started it,” Maggie’s voice was muffled by his chest.

The Doctor leaned back a little to get a better look at her, “How do you mean?”

She shifted back to the position she had woken up in a few minutes prior, “When I woke up, we were laying like this,” she put her hand where his face had been, “And your face was right here.”

“Ah. Sorry about that,” he said sheepishly.

Maggie giggled, rolling onto her back and looking at him, “If I had minded, do you think I would have cuddled closer?”

He propped himself up on his elbow, resting his head on the heel of his palm, “I suppose not.”

She smiled, “Exactly. Besides, you’re a good cuddle buddy,” she yawned.

“Thank you.”

She rubbed her face with a groan, “I don’t want to get up.”

“Not a morning person, then?”

She shook her head, hands still covering her face, “Are you?” she asked, voice muffled by her hands.

The Doctor chuckled, “Not a bit.”

“I didn’t think you- wait. Where are my glasses?” she sat up so quickly, she nearly smacked her face into the Doctor’s.

He moved his head quickly to avoid a sudden collision, “Don’t worry. I took them off after you fell asleep,” he grabbed her glasses before handing them to her.

Maggie took them with a grateful smile, “Can’t tell you how many times I’ve done that.”

He chuckled, “I believe you.”

She pushed her glasses onto her face before flopping back down against the pillows and smiled up at the Doctor, “Good morning, no longer fuzzy Doctor.”

He chuckled, “Good morning, beautiful Maggie.”

Her cheeks tinged pink as she smiled bashfully at the compliment, “So what’s the plan for today?”

The Doctor shrugged and flopped down beside her, “Get back to the Tardis and continue the adventure I guess. Funny nothing’s come up yet. Guess it’s time to go.”

Maggie turned her head to look at him, “What sort of thing are you expecting?”

As if on cue, something shattered and a scream pierced the air.

The Doctor grinned, “Something like that.”

They both leapt from the bed and Maggie grabbed her flannel, struggling to push her sleeves through the arms of it. She sighed in frustration when she found the arms were wrong side out. The Doctor quickly helped her fix it and put it on before the pair ran to see what had happened.

They found a maid in the kitchen standing in the midst of shards of pottery, her face white as a sheet and her mouth hanging open in shock. In the middle of the kitchen floor was the body of the great Leonardo Da Vinci.

“You said we were in the year fifteen hundred, right?” she asked, looking to the Doctor.

He nodded, looking perplexed.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” she walked towards the body, heedless of the pieces of broken pottery as she stepped through them with her bare feet, and knelt beside the body.

“Why not?” the Doctor asked.

“Well, for starters, Da Vinci is believed to have died of a stroke, not asphyxiation. For another, he’s not supposed to die for another twenty years or so,” she looked up at the Doctor.

The Doctor looked at her in surprise, “How do you know that?”

“I took History of Art last semester,” she said with a shrug.

“That’s brilliant!  _ You’re _ brilliant, actually,” he went to pull something out of his coat pocket before realizing that he didn’t have his coat, “We should go get properly dressed and then continue, yes?”

She nodded, “That’s not a bad idea.” She went to walk through the shards of pottery and hissed when one of them sliced open her foot, “Fantastic.”

“You alright?”

She got to the table and sat in a chair before looking down at her foot, “I will be. I need to stitch this up, though. You go get dressed, I’ll work on this.”

“You’re going to stitch it up yourself?” the Doctor asked in surprise.

Maggie looked up at him, “It’s not the first time I’ve done this, Doctor. Go get dressed. And could you bring my shoes down?”

He nodded, “Yeah.”

Maggie looked up at the maid, “Has he got any medical thread lying around?”

The maid frowned, “What?”

Maggie looked up at her and studied her for a moment, “Nevermind you’re in shock.”

Maggie got up and hobbled around, looking for something to stitch up her foot with. She came up with nothing.

When the Doctor came back into the kitchen, he looked at her in surprise, “What are you doing?”

“Looking for something to stitch up my foot with,” she answered as though it should have been obvious, “Honestly I’d even be alright with fishing wire at this point.”

“I’ll go check the workshop. Here are your things,” the Doctor put her bra and shoes and socks and bag on the table before going to do just that. 

Maggie quickly slipped on the bra and started to clean her foot. That was when she noticed a sliver of ceramic lodged in her foot. “Fantastic,” she sighed.

The Doctor came back to the kitchen with some sort of thread and a needle, “You okay?”

She nodded, “Yeah. I’ve got some fragments lodged in there, though.”

He frowned, “That’s not good.”

He knelt in front of where she was sitting at the table and pulled out his glasses, pushing them onto his nose before inspecting her wound, “You’re right. Any tweezers lying around?”

“In my bag, yeah,” she said.

The Doctor fished around in her bag before procuring the tool he needed, “You need anything before I start this?”

She shook her head, “Nope. Just, just go for it.”

He was very careful about finding the pieces of ceramic lodged in her foot and gingerly pulled them out. He put the pieces on a towel he kept on his leg, and occasionally wiped away the blood that would start up again when he dislodged the pieces in her foot.

“You have really high arches,” the Doctor noted offhandedly.

She looked at him in confusion, “What?”

“The arches of your feet,” he repeated as he continued working, “They’re abnormally high.”

Maggie nodded, “Yeah. My mom had me do ballet from the ages of five to fifteen. I wasn’t very good, but I was fairly decent.” She sucked in a breath between her teeth when he pulled out another piece.

“That makes sense. You do have the feet of a ballerina,” he commented.

“I know,” she made a face, “They’re ugly.”

“I didn’t say that,” the Doctor pulled out another piece and she yelped, “Sorry.”

She sighed, “It’s alright.”

“Last one,” he pulled it out and set the tweezers on the towel and then set the towel on the ground, “Now, are you sure you can stitch yourself up?”

She nodded, “I’ve done it loads of times.”

“Alright. I’ll take care of this, then.”

The Doctor got to his feet and went to the bathroom to take care of the towel and tweezers. When he came back, Maggie was unconscious on the ground with her foot still unstitched. A second Maggie was standing over her with a knife in her hand.

“Well, you’re very easy to bait,” she said.

The Doctor frowned, “I resent that. I mean, it’s true, but when you say it like that it makes me sound shiney and dumb and easy to trick.” 

She glared at him, “Really? That’s what you focus on?”

He shrugged, “So,” said, putting his hands in the pockets of his coat, “You weren’t really in shock, then.”

The conscious Maggie shook her head, “No.”

“And that’s not the real Da Vinci, either,” he said. 

“No.”

He hummed to himself, “What are you, then? Some sort of shapeshifter, obviously.”

The real Maggie groaned from her position on the floor and sat up, holding a hand to her head, “Doctor?”

“I’m here,” he said.

Fake Maggie jerked the real Maggie to her feet and pulled her back against her chest, raising her knife to her throat, “Now, do as I tell you, or she dies.”

“Okay. What do you want?” the Doctor asked.

“No, don’t-!” Maggie lost her breath when Fake Maggie made a home for her fist in her gut.

“Shut up!” Fake Maggie hissed.

Maggie gasped for breath,

“Maggie, it’s going to be okay,” the Doctor said, “I promise.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” Maggie said with a sad smile.

Fake Maggie hit her over the head with the hilt of her knife and Maggie collapsed to the floor.

“What do you want?” the Doctor asked.

“Not my department.”

“So-what? You’re a pawn? Just a piece in a much bigger scheme?”

Fake Maggie laughed and started twirling her knife around in her hands, “Yes. That’s exactly what I am. That method of baiting doesn’t work on me. See, I know exactly what my role is. Do you know yours?”

“I’m the Doctor.”

She rolled her eyes, “Yes. We know. That’s exactly why I’m here. Been after you for ages. It’s a wonder it’s taken me this long to catch you. You’re probably the thickest Time Lord I’ve ever met.”

The Doctor blinked, “You’ve met other Time Lords?”

“Oh yeah. Loads of them.”

“But- that’s impossible. They’re all-”

“Dead? Yeah. But if you go back far enough, you can find some. I would have thought you’d know that,” Fake Maggie said, obviously bored.

A beat passed and suddenly they were all in a completely different place. Maggie still lay sprawled out on the ground, but she groaned a little. The Doctor looked around.

“Where are we?” he asked.

“Barn,” Fake Maggie said, “This one was abandoned years ago.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” the Doctor commented.

“Not the barn, you idiot. The girl. Margaret.”

“What do you mean?”

Fake Maggie grinned wickedly, “I’ve got all her memories,” she tapped the side of her head, “Floating around up here.”

The Doctor opened his mouth to say something, but someone else beat him to it.

“Well done, my dear. You finally did it,” the voice was toughened with age and anger.

The Doctor turned around to face who the voice belonged to and found a knobby old woman walking toward them.

“Who are you?’ he asked.

“My name is Mila. How do you do?” the woman asked.

“Mila. Interesting name. Sounds familiar. Why does that name sound familiar?” the Doctor wondered aloud.

Maggie pushed herself up on her elbows and looked around blinking, “Doctor?” The scene was very familiar as it had happened before only a few moments prior. 

“Maggie. It’s alright. We’re okay,” the Doctor assured.

“Are you sure about that?” Mila asked.

“If you hurt her, you’ll be sorry,” he warned in a low voice. It was obviously a threat.

“Doctor? What’s going on?” Maggie asked.

“Do you know that story from the Bible where one mother accidentally kills her child and then swaps her dead babe with her neighbors live one? They go before the king and both insist the babe is there’s. The king orders for the babe to be cut in half and let each mother keep one half. I’m afraid you have the opposite problem. Both of them will die unless you pick one. Whichever one you pick will live,” Mila explained.

“Well that’s easy,” the Doctor said.

Mila walked behind him and put a blindfold over his eyes, “Don’t be too hasty.”

He heard a lot of shuffling and then the blindfold was removed to reveal two identical Maggies. Both of them were impossible to tell apart.

“You have five minutes to make your decision.”

“How am I supposed to tell them apart?”

“Any way you like.”

The Doctor looked between them both, “What’s your favorite color?”

Both Maggie’s answered in unison, “Green.”

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-three.”

“What’s your favorite book?”

“Hamlet.”

The Doctor groaned in frustration, “Think think think. What would only Maggie know?” he started pacing, “When did Da Vinci die?”

“1519,” said one.

“May 2, 1519,” said the other.

“What’s the Head of a Woman made out of?”

“Oil, earth, white lead, and poplar,” they both answered in sync again.

“Four minutes now, Doctor,” Mila said.

“How old am I?” asked the Doctor.

“Some number over nine hundred,” said one Maggie.

At the same time the other said, “Nine hundred something?” it was more of a question than an answer.

The Doctor fired off question after question but was still no closer to figuring out which Maggie was the real one.

“Thirty seconds!”

The Doctor wracked his brain, “Think think think think think,” he stopped suddenly and grinned, “What’s your name?”

“Doctor Margaret Anne Hale,” said one.

The other one grinned, “Maggie. My name is Maggie.”

The Doctor pointed at the latter, “That one! I chose that one!”

Mila shoved her forward and she stumbled into the Doctor’s arms. There was a  _ snap! _ And a giant metal beam fell and crushed the remaining one. It was big enough that it could have killed them both if the Doctor had been only a few seconds slower.

The Doctor held Maggie tightly to him as she clutched at him and started sobbing, “It’s alright. I’ve got you. You’re okay.”

Maggie only clung to him desperately as she cried into his chest.

“What was the meaning of all this?” the Doctor demanded angrilly.

Mila only smiled, “Not my department,” and disappeared.

Maggie pulled away from him suddenly, “Doctor?”

“Yeah? Are you alright?”

“Nevermind that, where’s Da Vinci?”

His eyes widened, “Oh. Good point.”

“One of the greatest minds in history and they’ve taken him.”

“This was all a diversion!” he realized.

Maggie looked to where her doppleganger lay. Only, she didn’t look like Maggie anymore, “You were right. Definitely alien.”

“We need to find Leonardo as soon as possible,” the Doctor determined.

“But how do we do that?”

“No idea. Come one. We’ve got to get back to the workshop and find out what we can,” he took her hand and started running out of the barn, Maggie hobbling along the best she could with her foot still unstitched and bare to the ground. He stopped when they got to the door of the barn, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Maggie frowned in confusion and looked up, having been more focused on keeping her foot out of anything that would infect it, only to find miles of farmland in every direction, “That’s fantastic. Didn’t we walk here?”

“What? No. You were there! Oh, right. You were unconscious. Which reminds me,” he pulled something out of his coat pocket and pointed it at her. It made a whirring noise before he looked at it, “Yep. You’re concussed. Wait a minute. Oh, brilliant!” the Doctor pressed a kiss to Maggie’s forehead, “You are brilliant, Maggie Hale!”

“So you’ve said. What have I done now?” she asked.

“We were transported here,” he said.

“Right. What does that mean?”

“That means that we can use it to get back to their home base.”

“You sure you want to do that?” Maggie asked.

“We? No. Me? Yes. You’re staying right here.”

Maggie scoffed, “Yeah, right,” and looped her arm through his, “I wish you luck with that. You’re going to have a hard time getting rid of me.”

The Doctor looked at her appraisingly for a moment, “I am, aren’t I?”

She smiled, “More than you know.”

He gave her a soft smile, “Good. Come on, then! Allons-y!” he pointed the thing from his pocket at something and when Maggie blinked, they were somewhere indescribable.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: homophobic parent (this part is indicated, please skip if you need to), character death, lots of angst and feels

Maggie looked over at the thing in the Doctor’s hand, “What is that?”

“This?” he held up the thing in his hand and wiggled it.

“Yeah.”

“Sonic screwdriver,” he said, as if that explained everything.

Maggie pretended like it did, “Gotcha.” She looked around the room they were in. The only way she could describe it was alien. It was so obviously alien.

“Ah! Well now I know for sure what they are,” the Doctor said.

“And that is?”

“They’re Melglians. From the planet Melanie.”

Maggie blinked, “There’s a planet called Melanie?”

The Doctor nodded, “What? Got something against Melanie’s?”

She laughed, “Not at all. It just… well, I wouldn’t expect a planet to e named Melanie.”

He chuckled, “Yeah, it is an odd name, isn’t it?”

“Odd because it’s a white girl name,” Maggie said.

They laughed.

“Right. You stay here, I’m going to find Da Vinci,” the Doctor said.

Maggie frowned at him.

“You still haven’t been able to stitch up your foot and you probably have a concussion,” the Doctor reminded.

Maggie rolled her eyes, “If you think I’m letting you go off by yourself, you’ve got another thing coming, star man.”

He rolled his eyes, “You’re just going to follow me if I try to leave you behind aren’t you?”

She nodded with a bright smile. 

He sighed, “Alright, fine.”

They made their way through what Magge could only guess was a spaceship, trying to find Da Vinci.

“Leonardo?” Maggie whisper shouted.

The Doctor hushed her, “What are you doing?”

“Trying to find Leonardo?” she looked over at him in confusion.

“If you do it like that, they’ll find us before and then we’ll be their prisoner!”

She rolled her eyes, “ _ Or _ we could find him and get out of here!”

He sighed in exasperation, “Just follow my lead.”

Maggie started muttering under her breath, jumping from language to language in her frustration.

“You think I’m a  _ what _ ?” the Doctor asked, a surprised laugh escaping.

Maggie blinked, “You know what I was saying?”

“Tardis translates things in your head. How do you think you understood Da Vinci when he was speaking Italian?” he explained.

“Because I speak Italian? I already told you that.”

“Oh. Right. What languages do you speak?”

She went through the list, counting on her fingers to keep track, “English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Latin, Greek, French, and German.”

“That’s a lot of languages,” the Doctor noted, “Why do you know so many languages?”

She shrugged, “Cuz I want to. I’m in the middle of learning Russian and Romanian.”

The Doctor nodded and started walking again.

It took an eternity and a half, but eventually, they found Leonardo.

“Maggie? Doctor? What are you doing here?”

“Rescuing you,” Maggie said.

“There are aliens here!” he said, obviously terrified.

“Yep, there sure are,” Maggie said, hauling him to his feet, “Come on. We can talk about it when we’re safe.”

The Doctor took hold of Maggie’s hand and the three of them started making their way back to where Maggie and the Doctor had started off. His grip was tight, as though he were afraid she would be taken away from him. It made her wonder what, exactly, he had been through to make his eyes carry all that weight and for his hand to clutch at hers so tightly. His must be quite the tale to tell.

Maggie was snatched from her thoughts when something hit her back. She cried out, stumbling a little, but she got her feet under her and kept running.

“Are you alright?” Leonardo asked.

“Fine.”

The Doctor frowned at her.

“Honest! We need to keep going!” Maggie kept running.

The Doctor and Da Vinci shared a look before running after her. They had almost made it back to the area Maggie and the Doctor had teleported to when there was a cry behind them.

“Wait!”

The trio skid to a stop and saw a man in a vintage navy World War Two coat running after them.

“Jack?” the Doctor said in confusion.

“Questions later, running now,” the newcomer said.

Maggie took that opportunity to pass out.

“She one of yours?” Jack asked.

The Doctor looked at him in exasperation.

“Just checking,” Jack scooped up Maggie and started running again, “Come on!”

The Doctor and Da Vinci ran after him.

When they were safely back at Da Vinci’s, Jack laid Maggie on the kitchen table, “So who is she?”

“Maggie Hale,” the Doctor muttered as he started to look over Maggie’s injury.

“I’m sorry, who are you?” Leonardo asked, directing the question to the newcomer.

He gave a charming smile, “Captain Jack Harkness. And you are?”

“Leonardo Da Vinci.”

His smile widened, “It’s nice to meet you. I’m a big fan of your work.”

“Jack,” the Doctor said.

“I am!”

“We need to get her to the Tardis,” he continued.

“Ah.”

The Doctor gathered Maggie’s scattered belongings from around the kitchen and slung her bag over his shoulder.

Jack lifted Maggie into his arms, “Ready to go?”

The Doctor nodded and the pair set off for the Tardis. Once there, the Doctor lead the way into the medbay where he stitched up the gash on her foot, and the wound on her back.

“She gonna be okay?” Jack asked.

“She’s got a concussion and was shot in the back, but she’ll be okay,” the Doctor reported.

Jack nodded, “Good.”

“Why were you on that ship?” the Doctor asked.

Jack shrugged, “Your guess is as good as mine. One minute, I’m in Scotland, chasing after a rogue time traveler, next thing I know, I’m waking up in that spaceship back there,” he sat on one of the beds that wasn’t occupied by an unconscious Maggie, “How long have you been traveling with her?”

“A day or so,” the Doctor answered distractedly.

“What’s bothering you?” Jack asked.

“Hm?” the Doctor glanced at him, “Oh. Something one of the Melglians said. It had turned into Maggie and made a comment about her having been abandoned for years. I’m trying to work out what she meant by that.”

Jack frowned, “How was she abandoned?”

The Doctor shrugged and leaned back in his chair, folding his arms over his chest, “I dunno. I know so many things about her, but I don’t know the answer to that one question.”

The two men pondered this for a while before Jack clapped him on the shoulder, “Why don’t you get some sleep? I’ll look after her.”

The Doctor looked up at him, “Alright. No funny business.”

Jack faked hurt, “I would never!”

“Let me know if anything happens.”

“Yes, sir,” Jack saluted him as he left and took the chair the Doctor had just been occupying, “Alright, Miss Maggie. It’s just you and me now. You wake up when you’re good and ready, okay? Okay.”

Jack sat beside Maggie for hours, eventually starting to tell her stories. Some were about his own crazy adventures, others were about his adventures with the Doctor and a woman called Rose Tyler and a woman named Martha Jones. As the hours passed, Jack’s worry started to increase. When Maggie’s face contorted in pain and fear, he rushed to wake her up. He shook her shoulders gently calling her name to get her to wake up.

Maggie woke with a gasp, eyes flying open and gaze flying around the room as the nightmare refused to release her from its clutches.

“Woah, there. It’s alright, Mags. You’re okay,” Jack assured.

Maggie’s gaze finally landed on him and she squinted at him.

“Oh. Here you are,” he gave her her glasses and she put them on before looking at him again, finding his worried blue eyes already looking at her, “You okay?”

“Jack?” Maggie asked, voice small and scared.

“Yeah, it’s me, sweetheart. You okay?”

She let out a shuddering breath and pushed her hands through her hair, resting them on the back of her neck as she pulled up her knees and rested her elbows on them, “I don’t know.”

“It’s okay if the answer is ‘no’, you know,” he told her gently.

She sighed, “I know. I just- I don’t remember what my dream was about. I remember people were hurt- they were dying. All of them. And I couldn’t stop it because if I did then billions more would die. But my family was down there. My parents, my siblings, my spouse, my children. They all died. And I killed them,” she started crying, then, and Jack was quick to pull her into his arms.

“Shhh shh. You’re alright. It was just a dream, Mags,” he whispered.

“But it wasn’t! It was like I was looking at a memory, but it wasn’t my own. It actually happened, Jackie,” she cried, burying her face in his shoulder.

He held her the back of her head in his hand and rocked her, “Do you have children of your own?”

“No.”

“Have you ever had kids?”

“No.”

“Then it was just a dream,” Jack promised.

“No it wasn’t,” the Doctor’s voice said from the door, “It was a memory, you’re right.”

Maggie pulled away from Jack and looked over at him, sniffing, “What do you mean?”

“It wasn’t just a dream, Maggie. It was a memory.  _ My _ memory from many many years ago,” the Doctor said, walking into the room from where he had perched by the door frame, “How did you have a dream of my memories?”

She shook her head, “I don’t know.”

“That’s okay. We’ll figure it out,” Jack rubbed her back soothingly.

She nodded and wiped her nose with a sniff.

The Doctor sat beside her and held out his arms, “Come here.”

She crawled into the Doctor’s arms and wrapped her arms around his neck, “How did you keep going after that?” 

“I didn’t,” the Doctor said.

They stayed like that for a while, holding onto eachother like a lifeline. Eventually, they separated and wiped their faces of the tears that had fallen.

“While we’re on the topic of sensitive topics,” the Doctor said, “Back at the barn, the Melglian who impersonated you said something while you were unconscious.”

Maggie shifted uncomfortably, “Alright, what did she say?”

“Well, she said she had access to your memories and told me something along the lines of you’ve been abandoned for years. Do you know what she meant?” the Doctor asked as gently as he could.

Maggie took in a breath and paused for a long moment to gather her thoughts before nodding, “Yeah. I do.”

“You can tell me to go jump off a cliff or something if this is too personal, but can I ask why?” he asked.

She let out a small laugh before shaking her head, looking between the two men on either side of her, “No, it’s okay. No cliff-jumping required.” she pulled in a breath and cleared her throat, “A few years ago, when I was about seventeen, I decided to come out to my family,” she looked over at Jack to explain, “I’m bisexual.”

He nodded, a sad expression on his face as he realized what this story would be about.

*** * * Note: this is where the bleh stuff starts, so if you don’t want to read it, skip ahead! I’ll indicate where it’s safe to read * * ***

“My family was okay with it, except for my dad and his whole side of the family. He disowned me and said he would disown the rest of my siblings and divorce my mom if they made contact with me. So I packed my things and left the next morning and I haven’t heard from any of them since. Except Milo.”

*** * * okay you’re good! * * ***

She gave them a teary smile, “Milo had been my rock. He was old enough that he didn’t need my dad’s support. He took me in and helped me through medical school.”

“Had been?” Jack asked gently.

She nodded and sniffed, “He- uh, he died about two years ago.”

“I’m sorry,” the Doctor said.

Maggie gave a small smile, “It’s okay. The horrible thing was that no one went to his funeral. I was the only one of my family to be there.”

She started crying again and the Doctor pulled her back into his chest. Jack put a hand on her arm and rubbed it a few times. Maggie cried for a long time in the Doctor’s arms and he let her, holding her tightly and whispering sweet nothings into her ear. He rocked her gently and rubbed her back, occasionally kissing the side of her head.

“I miss him so much!” she sobbed.

“I know. I’m so sorry,” the Doctor said.

They tightened their hold on eachother and Jack slipped out to make some tea.

When Maggie had cried out all her tears, she pulled away a bit, sniffing and wiping her face as she hiccupped a bit.

“Are you alright?” the Doctor asked.

She offered a delicate smile, “I will be. Sorry I’ve been so emotional today. And that I ruined your jacket.”

“You’ve nothing to apologize for,” the Doctor immediately answered.

“You sure?”

He nodded, “Positive,” he offered a small smile, “Besides, I’ve loads of jackets.”

She giggled a little, “Okay.”

The Doctor reached over and wiped away her tears from her cheeks with a gentleness few could achieve.

“You want to tell me about the memory I dreamed about?” she asked.

The Doctor gave her a small smile, “Another time. You need to rest. You’ve got a nasty concussion, there,” he gently tapped the side of her head.

As if on cue, a yawn made itself known to the world, “Fair enough.”

Jack came back in with a nice hot cup of tea in hand, “Here you go, darlin’.”

Maggie took it with a grateful smile, “Thank you, Jackie.”

“Any time,” he smiled brightly at her, “You feeling any better?”

She nodded, “Much. Got a killer headache, though.”

“You need to rest,” he said.

“So I’ve been told,” she smiled and winked at the Doctor over the rim of her mug as she took a sip of tea.

Jack smiled and reached over and ruffled her hair, “We gotta take care of that cute little noggin,” he kissed her forehead, “Get some sleep, Mags. If you need anything, come and get me.”

“You too, Jackie. For both things,” she pressed a kiss to three fingers and then pressed those fingers to his nose.

He chuckled and left Maggie and the Doctor to themselves.

“You gonna be alright?” the Doctor asked.

She nodded and smiled, “Yeah. I will. What about you, star man?”

“I’m fine. I’m always fine,” he said.

She gave him a look, “You know, a wise man once told me that it’s okay to not be okay all the time. You can tell me the truth, Doctor.”

He nodded, “Alright. I’m a little shaken up. I mean, I almost lost you.”

She smiled, “You couldn’t lose me if you tried.”

He gave a small, sad smile, “That’s the thing. I really actually could. I will, one of these days. You could stay with me the rest of your life and I’d still lose you.”

She covered one of his hands with her own and laced their fingers together, “I’ll always be with you. In your heart...s. Because you have two.”

He chuckled, “Look at us. We’ve only just met and we’re already acting like we’ve known eachother for ages.”

“I think that’s a good sign,” Maggie smiled, “When you scared me when I was drawing the Tardis and invited me to come with you, for the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel so alone.”

He smiled softly at her, “If I have anything to say about it, you’ll never feel alone again. You’ll always have me. And now you’ve got Jack, too. And he’s like a lost puppy.”

She giggled, “And you’ve got me, too. For anything you need. And that’s a promise,” she held up a hand, pinkie out.

He chuckled and linked their pinkies together, “Same goes for you, Maggie Hale. Now, time for you to get some sleep,” he got up and kissed her forehead, “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Doctor.”


	5. Chapter 5

After a while of trying to sleep, Maggie got up and started to wander the halls of the Tardis. She ran into Jack after a time and he gave her a wry smile.

“You’re supposed to be sleeping, Mags.”

She huffed, “Couldn’t sleep, so I decided to wander.”

He nodded and put his arm around her waist, starting to walk around, “Come on, I’ll tell you a bedtime story.”

“That’s fine by me!” she smiled, “But can we not go to the medbay again? It gives me the creeps.”

“Sure thing. We can go to my room.”

Maggie leaned her head against his shoulder. When they got to Jack’s room, he had her crawl into bed and sat on top of the covers beside her.

“What sorta story do you have in store for me, Jackie?” she asked as she got settled.

“One with a dashing hero and a beautiful damsel in distress,” he said dramatically, “With daring bravery and brash stupidity and romance,” he wiggled his eyebrows at her.”

She giggled.

Jack dove into the story and within minutes, she was asleep. He smiled, “Works everytime,” and pulled a book out from under the bed to read while he kept watch over to her.

Sometime later, the Doctor went to check on Maggie only find her absent from the med bay. He went to Jack’s room to see if he had seen her and found them both sleeping soundly in Jack’s bed. Jack with a book on his chest and Maggie holding a pillow tight. The Doctor felt a pang in his chest that he hadn’t felt in a long time. So long, in fact, that it took him a moment to identify what it was. Jealousy. The Doctor was jealous of Jack. He rolled his eyes at himself and shook his head. He had no right to be jealous of Jack. Maggie wasn’t his. Besides, they had just met. He had no claim over her. And yet, there was the ache in his chest as he wished that he could switch places with Jack. He couldn’t even explain why it was there, he could only say that he felt drawn to the half-Latina woman as though she were a magnet too powerful to pull away from. He couldn’t explain it. He needed a distraction. So he went to the library.

When Maggie woke up, she was aware of a presence next to her. She opened her eyes and was disappointed to find Jack instead of the Doctor. She sat up and rubbed her eyes before throwing the blankets off of her legs and went to wander the Tardis some more, leaving Jack to sleep some more. She found a bunch of bedrooms, a pool, an exercise room, and then a library. She went in to see what kinds of books were in it. After perusing the titles displayed on the spines of the books for a few moments, she looked around the room again and saw the Doctor asleep in a chair with his glasses askew on his face and a book splayed on his chest. He snored softly as he breathed.

Maggie walked over to him and grabbed his book, finding something random to use as a bookmark before setting it on the table beside the chair he was sleeping on. She gently took off his glasses and then put a hand on his arm.

“Doctor,” she whispered.

He groaned a little and then those soulful brown eyes blinked open, “Huh? Maggie? What’s going on? Why are you up?”

She shrugged, “Woke up and got restless. Found you in here asleep. Let’s get you to bed.”

He was very confused and disoriented, but let Maggie pull him to his feet and guide him out of the library, “I was wearing my glasses. Where’d they go?”

“I’ve got them, love, don’t worry,” she assured, “Now where’s your room?”

They eventually made it to his room and Maggie helped him out of his jacket and tie as he woke up a bit more.

“You’re still in your clothes,” he observed.

She laughed, “As are you.”

“No, I mean, you’ve still got the same outfit on. You need clean clothes. And pajamas.”

She shrugged, “I’ve slept in worse.”

He shook his head, “No, no. Come on. We’re gonna get you changed.” He took her hand and lead her to a giant room filled with racks and racks of clothes, “Go on,” he yawned, “I’ll wait here.”

Maggie disappeared for a while and then reappeared in loose grey sleep pants and a light pink t-shirt.

“Ready?” the Doctor asked, in pajamas of his own.

She nodded.

He took her hand and they went back to the Doctor’s room where he got ready for bed while Maggie took a look around the room. The Doctor went and climbed under the covers before looking over at Maggie expectantly.

“You coming?” he asked.

“You sure?”

He made grabby hands at her and whined, “Come onnnnn.”

She giggled and went to the bed, slipped under the covers, took off her glasses and set them on the bedside table before settling to sleep. To her surprise, the Doctor pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her.

“This okay?” he asked in her ear.

She nodded, “Yeah, just a second.”

Maggie flipped over and laid her head on his chest, resting her arm on his stomach and letting out a content sigh.

He chuckled, the sound making his chest rumble like gentle thunder, “Comfy?”

“Yep!” she looked up at him with a happy smile.

He gave her a small smile, “Good,” and kissed the top of her head.

They lay in silence for a few moments before Maggie looked up at him again, “Doctor?”

“Hm?”

“Why do you want me here?” she asked.

He opened his eyes and looked at her, frowning, “Elaborate.”

“Why do you want me to sleep with you?”

“Ah,” he shrugged, “Dunno. I slept better last night than I have in ages. And I don’t even really need to sleep all that often. Besides, it’s nice to sleep with someone beside you.”

She hummed, “I suppose you’re right. Last night was the first time I’ve slept beside someone who wasn’t family.”

“Really?” he tucked his hand under the back of his head and started absentmindedly playing with her hair with his other hand.

“Mhm. Milo and U had to share a bed when my dad kicked me out. And when I was younger and had a nightmare, I’d go to him for comfort and would often fall asleep in his bed.”

“Why’d you have to share a bed?” the Doctor asked.

She chuckled, “Do you know how much a mattress costs?”

“Not particularly, no.”

She shifted a little so she was laying more comfortably, “Well, they’re more than we could afford. So we shared the one he already had.”

“I see.”

“But sleeping with you is different. You’re more cuddly,” she said with a yawn.

He chuckled, “Thank you. Sleep, now. You need rest.”

She nuzzled her head further into his chest, “You first,” she argued, already half asleep.

The Doctor woke first the next morning. He yawned and stretched with a groan. At least, he tried to. It’s a bit difficult to stretch when you’ve a sleeping person practically laying on top of you. He looked and saw Maggie asleep with her head on his chest and half of her body covering his with her arm over his stomach, hand clutching his shirt, and her leg thrown over both of his. The way she was positioned, it was almost as though she were protecting him from some unseen and unknown threat, even in sleep. He found it quite endearing, actually. He pushed her hair back out of her face and started running his fingers through it, not quite ready to get up yet and not ready to wake Maggie.

There was a light knock on the door and Jack poked his head in, “Hey, have you seen- oh. Nevermind,” he then slipped out and quietly closed the door.

The Doctor looked down at the sleeping woman in his arms and briefly wondered what she was dreaming about, or if she was even dreaming at all. He then thought about how peaceful she looked while she slept. There was nothing to worry about, no one to look after, nothing plaguing her mind. He didn’t know how much time had passed before she shifted a little, took in a breath, and opened her eyes to the world.

Maggie looked up at the Doctor with a sleepy smile. He could stare at her like this all day and be completely satisfied with how he had spent his time, he thought to himself as he started to map the constellations of freckles that were smattered across her nose.

She spoke, snapping him out of his thoughts, “Good morning.”

He smiled softly at her, “Good morning. Sleep well?”

She yawned, stretching as she did, and then nodded, “I had the most beautiful dream.”

“Want to tell me about it?”

“I was walking in the forest, but it wasn’t like any forest I’ve ever seen before. The leaves were silver and the sky was orange and there were two suns. One of the suns was setting and the trees seemed to glow with the way the light caught the leaves. It was wonderful,” she said, a small smile on her face as she remembered her dream.

The Doctor smiled at her, “That sounds like home.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Gallifrey had all of those things,” he suddenly frowned, “Hang on. You had a dream of one of my memories again.”

She hummed, “I’m glad it was a happy one this time.”

“Me too,” he said softly, half distracted.

“Did you dream of anything?” Maggie asked.

“I did, actually. I was at a concert with friends. It was really loud and the lights were so bright, but it was loads of fun. And then we went and they had a few drinks, but I had something else because I was the designated driver- which is funny because I’ve never actually been the designated driver anywhere.”

“That’s odd. That sounds like one of my memories,” Maggie said, “How can we be dreaming about eachother’s memories?”

“I dunno,” the Doctor pursed his lips as he thought about it, “Guess we’ll have to figure it out. You’re not psychic, are you?”

She chuckled, “Not nearly.”

“Well, then that rules out that option.”

Just then the Doctor’s stomach grumbled loudly.

“Sounds like someone’s hungry,” Maggie said, “You got a kitchen in here?”

“Somewhere, yeah. Why?”

“Figured we could make pancakes or something,” she sat up and started gathering her hair in her hands.

“That’s very domestic,” the Doctor said.

She laughed, “So is sleeping in the same bed as me. Have you got a hair tie somewhere?”

The Doctor rolled over and dug through a drawer before procuring one and holding it up for her.

She took it with a “thanks” and put her hair in a messy bun on the top of her head.

He rolled back over as she pushed her glasses onto her face and let her tug him out of bed before leading the way to the kitchen. Once there, he sat at the bartop island and watched as Maggie moved through the room, collecting the things she needed for pancakes and setting them on the counter.

“Anything I can do to help?” he asked.

She paused and thought for a moment, “You could make coffee and eggs?”

He nodded, “On it. How do you like your eggs?”

She shrugged, “I don’t really care. Eggs are eggs.”

So Maggie made the pancake batter and the Doctor put on a pot of coffee and started making the eggs. She had only been working on the batter for a few minutes when her head started pounding. She put a hand to her head and grimaced.

“You alright?” the Doctor asked her.

She nodded, “Yeah. I’m fine. I just think I’m overdoing it.”

“It’s a possibility. You shouldn’t do much of anything with that concussion. Go and sit. I’ll make breakfast,” the Doctor pushed her gently towards a chair.

She sat with a sigh, “I hate concussions. I have to sit around and literally do nothing.”

“I’m sure you’ll find ways to entertain yourself,” he said confidently.

“I can’t read, I can’t draw, watch movies, or anything else. I can’t even physically do something because there’s the possibility of furthering the damage to my brain,” she sighed, “I am going to go absolutely mad.”

“Probably. Just don’t get your madness everywhere. It makes quite the mess,” the Doctor smiled at her over his shoulder as he kept preparing the eggs.

She made a face, “Very funny.”

“I thought so.”

Jack walked into the kitchen, “You’re making breakfast? That’s very domestic of you, Doctor.”

He shrugged, “It was Maggie’s idea.”

“And then I got benched because my brain hurts,” Maggie grumbled.

It was in that moment that Jack realized that the Doctor would do anything for Maggie, whether he realized it or not. Jack looked into the bowl of half-made pancake batter, “How far’d you get? And what were you making?”

“Pancakes and I had the flour, sugar, and salt before my brain decided to throw a tantrum,” she moved from sitting at the bar to laying across it, taking her hair out of it’s updo.

“Got it,” Jack picked up where she left off.

With Jack and the Doctor working together, breakfast was ready in no time. They got the dishes they needed out of the cupboards and set the table.

“Mags, breakfast is ready,” Jack announced as he carried the platter of pancakes to the table.

She didn’t respond.

“Mags?” Jack walked over to the bartop counter she was laying on.

“She alright?” the Doctor asked.

Jack turned to him with a smile and nodded, “She’s just sleeping.”

“Good. She needs lots of rest for her head to heal up properly,” the Doctor sat at the table.

Jack took his place beside him, “You can’t just zap the concussion away?”

“No. I don’t have nanogenes and if I tried anything else we run the risk of making the damage to her brain either permanent or worse,” he explained.

“Yeah that would be bad,” Jack agreed, tucking into the plate of pancakes he had served himself.

“My thoughts exactly.”

When Maggie woke up a couple hours later, she got off the counter and stretched with a groan.

“Mornin’, sunshine. Sleep well?” Jack asked from where he was standing with his head in the fridge.

“Don’t let me sleep on the counter again,” she grumbled.

He chuckled, “Not comfortable?”

“I’ve slept in dumpsters that were more comfortable than this.’ Did I miss breakfast?”

“‘Fraid so. But we have plenty left over, so don’t worry.”

Jack pulled out the containers holding the leftovers from breakfast and set them on the counter before going back into the fridge to dig around.

Maggie dieshed herself a plate and put it in the microwave, “So how do you know the Doctor?”

Jack chuckled and moved away from the fridge with a drink in his hand, “That’s a long story.

She leaned against the counter, folding her arms over her chest, “I’ve got to stay entertained somehow, Jackie.”

“Fair enough.”

The microwave went off and the pair sat down as Jack told the story of how he met the Doctor in London during the Blitz of World War Two. He was an excellent story-teller, enigmatic and dramatic. When he was done, he went to get a new drink, taking Maggie’s dishes from her and taking care of them.

“So how did you get those calluses on your hands?” he asked.

Maggie looked down and examined her hands, taking a moment to think before deciding to tell the truth, “Me and my brother, Milo, got into the street scene when we were younger.”

“Oh yeah? Which part?” Jack put her plate in the dishwasher.

“Racing. We were good, too,” she smiled at the memories.

“How good?”

She looked over at him with a smirk, “The best.”

He chuckled, “So you know your way around a car, then.”

“I can take it apart, clean it, and put it back together from the ground up in thirty-six hours,” she said.

He let out a low whistle, “I’m guessing you know from experience?”

She nodded, “Yeah. I had to do it to try to appease someone me and Milo accidentally pissed off when I was eighteen. It didn’t work, but we were able to put a few tricks up our sleeves when we got out of trouble.”

He nodded, coming back to the table with a new drink in his hand, “I’ve been there before.”

She shook her head, sobering up quickly, “Not like that, you haven’t. This was different, Jackie. We pissed off the wrong people and almost had our whole family killed because of it.”

“How’d you stop them?” he asked.

Maggie looked him dead in the eye, “The only way you  _ can _ stop someone like that.”

“Oh,” he took a long drink.

“Yeah. It wasn’t an easy decision to make, either. I didn’t enjoy it and I didn’t do it lightly. And, uh, don’t tell the Doctor. Please. I don’t think he’d ever trust me if he knew,” she sighed.

“Between you and me, I think it’d make him trust you more.”

She gave him a small, sad smile, “Maybe.”


	6. Chapter 6

After a few weeks of bing in the Tardis going stir crazy while the boys went out on adventures- which took a lot of convincing on her part. They hadn’t wanted to leave her behind, but she could tell they were both getting restless, so she told them that she would just be sleeping in her room anyways- which she was- and that she didn’t need them to watch over he 24/7. After a few days of making points they couldn’t argue with, Maggie had finally convinced the Doctor and Jack to go out and have their adventures. It was sweet, though. The Doctor always managed to bring her back a souvenir. After a few weeks of being locked in the Tardis going stir crazy while the boys went off on their adventures, it was finally decided that Maggie could come with them.

“So where to, Maggie?” the Doctor asked, standing at the consol in the Tardis.

She smiled widely at him, “Surprise me.”

He grinned, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he thought of the perfect place to take her after being shut up in the Tardis for so long, “Alright, then. Allons-y!”

The Doctor, Jack, and Maggie started flipping switches and pushing buttons and the Tardis started creaking as she flew through space and time. When the Tardis finally landed, Maggie looked at the Doctor excitedly.

“So where are we?” she asked, practically bursting with excitement.

He smiled and nodded at the doors of the Tardis, “Go see for yourself.”

She ran to the door of the Tardis and threw it open before bursting through it.

Around her was an alley with puddles and piles of rubbish. A cat screeched and ran past Maggie’s booted feet. 

She let out a breath as Jack and the Doctor stepped out of the Tardis to stand on either side of her and frowned, “A tad underwhelming, love, sorry to say.”

The Doctor only smirked, “Come on. It’s not just any old alley way. It’s an alley in 1899 New York City.”

Maggie grinned at him, “There it is. Come on!” she moved towards the sidewalk and started walking around, awed by what she saw. It was New York, but not her New York. This was older, but it didn’t look it. Everything was shiny and new, “What’s special about this place and time?”

The Doctor put his hands in his pockets, “The Newsboy Strike has just been resolved and steps are being made to better working conditions everywhere.”

Jack was frowning, “If the strike’s been resolved, how come there aren’t any Newsies hawking headlines?”

The Doctor shrugged, “Might have gotten here a bit early. Let’s go find out, shall we?”

Maggie looped her arm through the Doctor’s and the three of them set off to find the answer to their question.

Surprisingly, it took them quite a while to find any sort of clue to the answer. The streets of New York were filled with people, but there were no newboys to be seen on any of the corners. Finally, they found where they were staying. Maggie almost cried when they found her. She immediately reached for the Doctor’s hand and gripped it tightly within her own as her eyes took in the room full of worn mattresses, dirty clothes, and tired, dirty children- half of whom were lying sick in bed. The Doctor squeezed her hand.

One boy got to his feet and walked over to the three newcomers, “Who are you?” he asked defensively.

“My name is Doctor Margaret Hale. These are my friends, the Doctor and Captain Jack Harkness,” Maggie said.

The Doctor gave her a sideways look, but she ignored him.

“We ain’t got money for a doctor,” the boy said.

Maggie shook her head, “I don’t want your money.”

“Then what do ya want?”

“To help. Can I see what I can do?”

The boy eyed her suspiciously before giving a curt nod, “I’m Kid Blink.”

She smiled kindly at him, “It’s nice to meet you.”

Kid Blink stepped aside and allowed Maggie to step further into the room.

“Who’s been sick the longest?” she asked, pulling her hair into a quick, sloppy braid to keep it out of the way. When she couldn’t find a hair tie, she was surprised when the Doctor held one out for her and gave him a grateful smile as she took it and wrapped it around the end of the braid.

Kid Blink pointed, “Albert. He got sick a couple days ago, then the other boys started gettin’ sick, too.”

She nodded and went to the boy named Albert and started looking him over, pulling a small flashlight out of her bag to check his eyes, ears, and throat. Maggie then checked his temperature and pulled out a stethoscope to listen to his breathing and heartbeat.

“You always carry this stuff around?” Jack asked her.

She glanced up at him and shrugged, “I like to be prepared.”

“Well?” Kid Blink asked, a bit impatient to hear the verdict.

Maggie sighed, “Honestly? He’s not looking too good, Kid. But I think I can help. What sort of supplies do you have?”

He shrugged, “Not much, really.”

She grimaced, “I was afraid of that,” she looked up at Jack and the Doctor.

The Doctor nodded, “What do you need?”

Maggie looked over to Kid Blink, “How many sick boys do you have?”

“‘Bout twenty.”

“All with the same symptoms?”

He nodded.

Maggie wrote up a list of the things she needed and gave it to the Doctor, “Quick as you can?”

The Doctor took the paper and gave her a small smile, “Back before you know it. Don’t run off.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” she promised, rolling up her sleeves, “Right then. In the meantime, we need to keep him covered with blankets and have a cool cloth on his forehead to try to break the fever. Can you do that while I look over the others?”

Kid Blink nodded, “Yes, ma’am.”

“Good man.”

When Maggie had finished looking over all the other sick boys, she was a bit perplexed. They all had the exact same symptoms without deviation. She frowned and chewed her lip as she wiped a damp cloth on one of the boys faces, trying to break his fever. She was snapped out of her thoughts by a little voice.

“Doctor Hale?”

Maggie looked up to find a little boy no older than five looking p at her nervously, “Yes, dear?”

“I don’t feel good,” he said. He was scared.

She looked around and found an older boy who was unoccupied, “Could you keep his head cool for me?”

The boy nodded and took over for her while she turned her full attention to the child, “What’s your name, sweetheart?”

“Donny,” he said.

Maggie stood and held out her hand, “Let’s get you looked at, yeah?”

Donny took her hand and let her lead him to another part of the room. When she was looking in one of his ears, she gasped.

“What?” he asked worriedly.

“There’s a lizard in your ear!” she exclaimed.

His eyes widened, “There is?”

She nodded, “Let’s check the other ear,” she went to his other side and gasped again, “There’s his tail!”

Donny giggled and she smiled at him.

“Don’t worry. The lizard is harmless, love.”

He grinned at her and suddenly asked, “Are you and the Doctor married?”

Maggie blinked and spluttered for a moment, pushing her glasses up her nose, “Why do you ask?”

“You were holding his hand when you walked in,” he said simply, as if that explained everything.

Maggie smiled. Ah the simplicity of a child’s mind. “No, love. We’re not married.”

“Who’s married?” the Doctor’s voice asked behind her.

Maggie jumped, “How do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Appear out of nowhere?”

He shrugged, “Got what you asked for. Who’s married?”

She flushed, “Donny here thought that we were married.”

The Doctor chuckled, “Really?” 

She nodded, “Yeah.”

“Well,” he shrugged, “Kids. They’ll think anything. Anyways, got what you’ve asked for.”

She nodded, “Right, then. Good,” she pushed her glasses up her nose, “Here’s what I need you to do with it.”

The Doctor listened intently to her instructions and relayed them to Jack, “You figure out what it is yet?” he asked her.

She shook her head, ruffling Donny’s hair and telling him to run along before turning back to the Doctor, “I’ve got no idea. They’ve all got the exact same symptoms, though.”

The Doctor frowned, “All of them?”

She nodded.

“Exactly the same?”

Maggie nodded again.

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out soon,” he pulled her into a hug.

She pulled in a calming breath, trying to get her nerves in order, “I hope so. At this rate, if I don’t, they’ll all die.”


	7. Chapter 7

Maggie stayed up well into the night looking after the sick boys. Most of the well ones had fallen asleep in various places. Jack had fallen asleep against a wall near one of the younger boys he had been looking after. She was wiping the face of a boy named Tommy, trying to break his fever.

A familiar hand landed on her shoulder, “Maggie-”

“No,” she shook her head.

“You don’t even know what I was going to say!”

“You were going to tell me to get some sleep,” she looked up at him, “I can’t. I need to help these boys, Doctor. These boys fevers aren’t going to break themselves.”

“I understand that, but you’re not going to be able to be much help to them if you’re exhausted. I’ll look after them. I don’t need to sleep as often as you humans do,” he started to rub her shoulders a bit.

Maggie sighed and leaned back into him, covering one of his hands with hers and pressing her cheek against his other hand, “I don’t know how to help them, Doctor. The most I can do is keep trying to break the fevers.”

He leaned over and rested his chin on the top of her head, wrapping his arms around her shoulders, “You’re doing the best you can. Sometimes that’s all you can do.”

“I know,” she sighed, putting her hands on his arms and resting her chin between them, “That doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“Never said you did,” he hummed, “I don’t like it either.”

Maggie looked up at him, “What do we do?”

He looked down at her and blew a stray bit of hair out of her face, “I don’t know.”

She gave a soft laugh and blew in his face.

“There was a hair on your face!” he exclaimed.

She hushed him, “Don’t wake up the boys, love.”

He rolled his eyes affectionately, “You should be sleeping, too.”

She huffed, “Fine.”

He kissed her forehead, “Off you pop. To bed with you.”

She got to her feet with a huff and turned to hug him. They held eachother for a few, long, blissful moments when the Doctor chuckled.

“Told you so.”

“What did you tell me?”

“You’re quite the cuddler.”

“Shut up. You already figured this out. Besides, you started it. And it’s not my fault you’re so dang cuddly. You’re like a giant teddy bear.”

He chuckled again, “You ramble when you’re sleepy.”

“Again, you know this. We’ve been sharing a bed since Da Vinci,” she grumbled.

“Yes I know. Get some sleep, Maggie,” he slipped her glasses off of her face and tucked them into the pocket of his jacket.

“Mkay,” she found a place to lie down where she would be out of the way, “Wake me up in anything happens.”

“I will. Goodnight, Maggie.”

“Goodnight, love.”

Maggie only managed a few hours of sleep before someone was waking her. A small hand was tugging at hers.

“Miss Maggie?” a voice to match the hand sounded.

She opened her eyes and squinted, her glasses having vanished, “Yes?”

“Sorry, Mags. He wouldn’t let anyone else look him over,” Jack’s voice said.

“It’s alright, Jackie. Do you know where my glasses are?” she sat up and started pulling her hair out of her face, fastening it in place with a hair tie.

“Here you are,” the outline of the Doctor held something out to her.

Maggie carefully reached out and gently closed her fingers around her glasses and the Doctor’s fingers. She took the glasses and pushed them onto her nose, blinking a few times as her eyes adjusted to actually being able to see, “What is it?”

Little Donny was stood in front of her, looking nervous as ever, “Is the lizard in my ear okay? I still don’t feel good and I want to make sure he’s okay.”

Maggie smiled patiently at him, “Let’s have a look and see.”

She got to her feet with a hand from Jack and the Doctor and took Donny’s hand as they went to go find her bag.

“Lizard in his ear?” the Doctor whispered in Maggie’s ear.

She nodded, “It’s a trick to get kids who are nervous to relax a bit. I picked it up from my old pediatrician. I was always nervous, so when he looked in my ears, he would always pretend to see a lizard in them.When I was training to be a doctor before I decided to become a medical examiner, I started doing it with nervous kids. It works like a charm.”

The Doctor smiled, “That’s clever.”

She smiled, “High praise coming from you. Anything happen while I was asleep?” she asked as she started digging through her bag for her things.

“Everyone’s slowly getting worse. Even the ones whose fevers have broken,” Jack reported.

Maggie Frowned as she checked Donny’s temperature, “Doctor, did you figure out what’s wrong with them?”

He shrugged, “I’ve an idea. I’ll talk to you about it after you’ve checked Donny’s lizard.”

She nodded and checked Donny’s ear, “There he is! Looks just as an ear lizard should. Would you like to see, Doctor?”

He chuckled, “Why not?” he took the light from her and looked in Donny’s ear, “Oh hello! You’re right, Maggie. He looks perfectly healthy for an ear lizard.”

She smiled and took the light back to check Donny’s other ear, “And there’s his tail! Just where it should be!”

“But Miss Maggie, you said his tail was in my other ear yesterday,” Donny said worriedly.

“Well he’s going to move around isn’t he? Can’t expect him to stay put,” she put a hand on his cheek and rubbed it a couple times with her thumb, “There’s nothing to worry about, love, I promise. Now why don’t you go see if you can help out Racetrack, yeah?”

“Okay!” he ran off to find Racetrack.

Maggie frowned after him.

“What is it?” Jack asked.

“His symptoms are worse than yesterday,” she said, “He’ll probably be bed-ridden by the end of the day.”

The three of them looked sadly at the little boy who was laughing as Racetrack played with him.

Maggie started fiddling with her fingers, picking at her hands absentmindedly as she worried about all the boys she was trying to save. She didn’t even notice she had picked at the skin too much until the Doctor covered her hands with his own.

“They’ll be alright, Maggie,” he said.

“Can you promise?” she asked, her chest feeling tight as she struggled for breath, “Can you promise me that all of these boys are going to make it through the night? Because I can’t. I can’t even figure out what’s wrong with them! Some doctor I am.”

The Doctor grabbed hold of her arms and pulled her outside where he pulled her to his chest. Maggie started crying as she tried to catch her breath, her thoughts going a million miles an hour as her entire body shook.

“I can’t help them, Doctor!” she gasped between sobs, “I don’t even know what’s wrong with them!”

“It’ll be alright, Maggie. Just breathe, okay?” he rubbed her back and kissed the top of her head, “Breathe with me.”

Maggie’s legs gave out from under her and she would have collapsed to the ground had the Doctor’s arms not been around her. He tightened his arms around her and carefully lowered them both to the ground, pulling her into his lap as she brokenly sobbed.

“Breathe with me, Maggie, can you do that for me?” he asked gently.

All she could do was nod.

He held her to his chest and pulled in deep breaths and let them out slowly. Maggie did her best to follow the pattern he was setting out for her, but she was having a hard time getting control of her breathing.

“That’s it, sweetheart. Deep breaths. You can do it,” he encouraged, running his fingers through her hair.

It took some time, but Maggie’s breathing eventually evened out and she was able to follow the Doctor’s breaths.

“Good girl,” he kissed her head, “Are you alright?”

She shook her head, still shaking in his arms.

“Alright. We’ll just stay out here a bit longer while you catch your breath.”

The Doctor adjusted how they were sitting and leaned against the wall as Maggie clutched at him, curled into his chest like a terrified child. He just held her and whispered words of encouragement as she calmed herself down.

“I can’t help them, Doctor,” she whispered at last, “I don’t even know what’s wrong with them.”

“It’s alright,” he rubbed her back and kissed the crown of her head, “It’s okay.”

“No it’s not! Those boys are dying and I can’t help them! There’s nothing I can do!” she looked up at him helplessly as she had a sudden realization, “This is how you felt that day, isn’t it?”

The Doctor looked down at her, silent pain in his eyes, “More or less.”

“It is. I dreamt it. I felt it. And now I’m living it,” she sniffed and wiped her face, wincing when the salt from her tears made contact with the scratches on her hands. She looked back up and saw the Doctor had tears of his own. She reached up and gently wiped them from his cheeks for him.

“We’ll figure it out,” the Doctor promised, kissing he inside of her hand, “Together.”

She nodded, “Together.”

“Now, let’s go back in and get those hands looked at.”

Maggie nodded and let the Doctor help her to her feet and help her back inside. He had her sit down and gingerly cleaned the scratches on her hands with an alcohol-soaked cloth and then wrapped them with clean bandages. When he had finished tying the bandages, he kissed them.

“There. All better,” he said.

She gave him a small, tired smile, “Thank you for taking care of me.”

He offered a soft smile, “Always.”

Have you got any ideas for what’s wrong with them?”

The Doctor sat beside her, “A few. It might be an alien sickness or something.”

She leaned against his side, “How would you know?”

He held up his sonic screwdriver, “I could scan them with this.”

She sat up and stared at him, “Are you kidding?”

“What?”

She shook her head, “Doctor, for being the most brilliant man in the universe, you are so thick. I’ve been going out of my mind with worry, trying to figure this whole thing out, and you’ve had a way to get the answers this whole time!”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry. I was a bit distracted,” he mumbled, embarrassed.

Maggie rolled her eyes, “Go on, then, star man. Figure it out.”

“Right,” the Doctor got up and went to scan the boys with his sonic screwdriver.

Jack came and sat next to Maggie, “You okay?”

She nodded distractedly, “What was he distracted by?”

Jack looked over at the Doctor and grinned, “You.”

She blinked, “Me?”

“Yep. Seeing you with the kids, taking care of them, playing doctor. He was starstruck,” he told her.

She shook her head, “No way. I’m- well. I’m just  _ me. _ There’s nothing special about me.”

“I don’t think you’ve ever been more wrong in your life, Mags.”

She bumped her shoulder into his, “Now you’re just flirting, Jackie.”

He chuckled, “Always. But, seriously. You’re somethin’ special, doll.”

She smiled and leaned into him, “Thanks, Jackie.”

He put his arm around her and kissed her temple, “Anytime.”

The Doctor exclaimed loudly and turned to Maggie with a big smile and kissed her full on the mouth, too caught up in his excitement to realize what he was doing, “I’ve got it!”

Maggie was gobsmacked for a moment before coming back to her senses, “You figured it out?”

“Oh, I did more than that.”

“Well don’t leave us hangin’, Doc,” Jack interjected.

“I know how to cure them.”

“Well you better do that fast,” Kid Blink interrupted, “Albert’s just died.”

Maggie rushed to where Albert lay and checked for a pulse. Finding none, she started chest compressions and blowing air into his mouth.

“No, dont-!” the Doctor cried, but it was too late. Her mouth had touched Albert’s.

Maggie kept trying to bring Albert back until Jack and the Doctor pulled her off him with some difficulty as she yelled and thrashed in their hold.

“He’s gone, Mags. He’s gone.”

“And you’re sick, too, now. So don’t go kissing anyone else,” the Doctor warned.


	8. Chapter 8

Maggie sat numbly for the better part of an hour, staring at the place Albert used to lay. She couldn’t help but feel responsible for his death. Jack and the Doctor were working on a cure for the sickness that plagued the newsboys and now her as well. She wasn’t allowed near it for fear of contamination. She hadn’t been infected long, but she already felt drained of energy.

Donny had been reduced to a very tired little boy who was only allowed out of bed to go to the bathroom. It broke Maggie’s heart. Maggie could feel her energy draining as the day dragged on, even though she already had very little after her panic attack and her frenzied attempt to save Albert. She was leaning against the wall her bed was against when Jack came over and sat beside her.

“How you feelin’?” he asked.

“Exhausted.”

“Not surprised. You’ve had a long day.”

Maggie turned her head to look at him, “He kissed me, Jackie.”

“He did. He does that sometimes when he’s excited,” Jack told her.

“Oh,” Maggie deflated.

“But only to people he likes,” he continued.

She raised an eyebrow at him, “Stop it.”

“He likes you, Mags. Trust me.”

“I trust you, Jackie. He’s just hard to read sometimes. Especially with us having dreams of eachother’s memories. It’s so confusing,” she said.

“I know. It’s confusing him, too.”

She sighed.

“Jack!” the Doctor called.

“Duty calls. I better go see what he needs,” Jack kissed her cheek, “Try to get some sleep, yeah?”

She gave a tired smile and nodded, “Yeah. Go save the world, Captain.”

He got to his feet and saluted her, “Yes, ma’am.”

It didn’t take Maggie long to fall asleep.

The Doctor looked over at her and watched her for a long moment before going back to work.

“We’ll save her, Doc,” Jack reassured.

“I know. I’ll never forgive myself if we don’t.”

The only woke her when another boy died.

“Maggie,” the Doctor gently shook her awake.

She groaned and blinked up at him, “Doctor? What is it?”

“It’s Donny.”

She gasped and started shaking her head, “No.”

“He’s gone, Maggie. I’m so sorry.”

She started crying and the Doctor pulled her to him, thinking to himself that he really mustn’t make him only holding her when she was crying a habit.

“Who else?” Maggie asked after a few moments of collecting herself.

The Doctor listed off a few more names.

She sniffed and nodded, “Okay. You should keep working on that cure.”

The Doctor nodded, “Are you okay?”

She shook her head, but smiled up at him anyways, “No. But I will be.”

He nodded, “I will save you, Maggie. I promise.”

She chuckled, “You’ve really got to stop making promises you can’t keep.”

“I won’t break this one,” he promised.

She smiled and nodded, “I know. Go on. You need to keep working on that cure.”

He nodded and went to rejoin Jack.

Everytime Maggie tried to get up, Jack and the Doctor would practically shout at her to sit back down. She was to sit and do nothing until they got the cure, all for the sake of conserving energy. By the time Jack and the Doctor started shouting in celebration, a total of nine boys had died, and Maggie and been sleeping. She was startled awake by their elated shouting.

“What is it?” she asked drowsily.

“We’ve done it!” the Doctor exclaimed.

He tried to give Maggie the cure first, but she refused to let him until all the boys had received it first. It took time, but eventually, all the boys had gotten it and it was Maggie’s turn.

The Doctor gently helped her sit up and put it up to her lips, “Drink up.”

She did and nearly spit it up from how horrible it tasted, but swallowed.

“Good girl,” he kissed her forehead.

That was the last thing she remembered clearly that she knew for a fact actually happened. One thing the Doctor didn’t know about the cure was that it was also a hallucinogenic.

Maggie didn’t know if she was dreaming or awake. It didn’t really matter. All that mattered was that  _ he _ was there. He was dead- had been for years- but he was there, taunting her with his presence. As if he hadn’t done enough. She screamed and cried at him to go away. She told herself that he was dead. She knew he was dead because she had killed him herself. And even if he had somehow, impossibly, managed to survive, what more could he want from her? She had given him everything she had to give and given up everything else that wasn’t hers to give. She had no money, no family, nothing. She had nothing to give, yet there he was, demanding more.

“Little Margaret,” he purred.

“No!” she moved away from him.

“Come on, Maggie,” he said.

Maggie paused. Maggie? He never called her Maggie. She was always Margaret to him.

“Wake up, Maggie!” he cried desperately. His voice was different, but his face was still there, “Come on, Maggie. Wake up.”

Her eyes fluttered open and she sat up with a gasp. Hands held her face and she recoiled sharply with a cry of “no!” and scrambled to the closest corner she could find, curling in on herself and squeezing her eyes shut. Footsteps came towards her and then those same hands were holding her face again with a gentleness that she was sure had to be a lie. Gentle thumbs brushed across her cheeks, smearing something wet on her face. Tears.

“You’re alright, Maggie,” a familiar, soft voice said softly,” You’ve just got to wake up. Come on, love. Wake up for me.”

Love? No one had ever called her love before, she thought. Her breathing was fast and she was getting lightheaded but she kept her eyes squeezed shut. She didn’t want to see his face again. Not again.

“Darling, you’re okay. You’re safe,” the voice promised.

She shook her head, whimpering as she curled tighter into herself.

“Maggie, you’re safe. You’re with me remember? The Doctor. I’m the Doctor. And I won’t let anyone hurt you ever again.

Recognition stirred somewhere in the dim corners of her mind as she froze, “Doctor?”

“Yes, love. The Doctor. That’s me. I’m here. Now, can you open those pretty green eyes for me? Please?”

The Doctor. What an odd name. Yet the name brought a sense of comfort with it. The Doctor was safe. But how did she know that? Could she trust him? What if he was like  _ him _ ? Even more terrifying, what if he was worse?

“Come on, love. Open your eyes,” the Doctor pleaded.

Bracing herself for the worst, Maggie slowly opened her eyes. The first thing they focused on were red and white rubber and canvas shoes. Somehow, they were familiar. Moving her focus upward, she saw legs clad in blue pinstripe slacks folded so as the person the legs belonged to could be on her level. Further up was a torso dressed in a white button up shirt with the top two buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up. Further up was an angular jaw, a crooked nose that had probably been broken before, and kind, warm brown eyes that were staring at her with an intensity that had never been directed at her.

“Doctor,” Maggie breathed in relief, the cloud fogging up her mind dissipating.

His face split into a smile, “There she is.”

Maggie reached up and clutched at the hands that were still holding her face. His hands. She leaned into his touch, “Is this real?” she whispered.

“Yes, love. This is real. I’m here. You’re safe,” the Doctor promised, “He was never here.”

Maggie froze, “How-? How did you…?”

He offered an apologetic smile, “You were yelling in your sleep. I couldn’t wake you, so I pulled an old Time Lord trick and went into your mind.”

“Oh,” she chewed her lip nervously.

“I’m so sorry. I know it’s a serious breach of trust,” he started to pull away from her, looking down at his shoes.

She tightened her hold on his hands, “It’s alright. I understand. Just… don’t leave me. Please. Stay.”

His eyes snapped up to hers, “Always.”

Maggie pulled the Doctor closer to her with shaking, tentative hands. He sat beside her and put his arm around her shoulders, holding her when she leaned into him. She realized they weren’t in New York anymore, “Where are we?”

“Back in the Tardis,” he kissed the top of her head and buried his nose in her hair, “If you don’t mind my asking, who was he? The man in your dreams?”

Maggie pulled in a shuddering breath, “Promise you won’t just drop me back in London and leave me?”

“I will never leave you behind, Maggie,” he said.

“Promise me.”

“I promise.”

She nodded, “Thank you.”

“Who is he?”

“His name was Camryn Xander.”

“Was?”

Maggie nodded.

What happened to him?”

She looked up at him with fear-filled eyes, “I killed him.”


	9. Chapter 9

The Doctor cleared his throat and sniffed, “Sorry?”

“I killed him,” she pulled away from him a bit.

He let her, too surprised to realize what she was doing. The only thing the had to say was “Why?”

Maggie sniffed and briskly wiped away a tear that had made a trail down her cheek, “I had to.”

“You never  _ have _ to,” the Doctor said.

She pulled away completely and pulled her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them, “This time I did.”

“Why?”

She wiped away more tears and let out a sigh, “Camryn was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He expected the world to be handed to him the moment he asked for it. When I was eighteen, he expected me.”

The Doctor looked at her sharply, “You don’t mean-?”

She nodded.

“You didn’t-?”

She shook her head, “No. Not at first, anyways. When I said no, I essentially declared war. He was rich and could do whatever he wanted without ever worrying about repercussions. So when I said no, he threatened to pay a visit to my little sister Leland. I couldn’t let him do that, so I told him I would do whatever he wanted as long as he left her alone. So I did. He called, I followed him like a lost puppy. For two years, this went on. And then one day, he just… I dunno what happened, he just stopped calling. I wasn’t going to complain. I hated him. I hated everything about him. I was glad he was gone. For the next three years, I heard nothing from him. I assumed he had moved someplace else, or that he had just got bored with me and moved on. I started med school and did my best to forget all about him,” she paused to catch a breath and then pushed on with her story, “Then one day I came home to the flat me and Milo were sharing and as soon as I opened the door, I knew something was wrong. The table was on its side, everything was scattered across the floor. I looked for something to defend myself with in case whoever it was was still there and found a kitchen knife. I grabbed it and went to investigate. That’s when I found,” she cleared her throat, took a moment to collect herself, and plunged ahead, “That’s when I found him standing over Milo’s body with a gun in his hand.

“It wasn’t hard to figure out what had happened, but I guess I had made some sort of noise or something, but he turned around and looked at me and he was  _ smiling _ . The bastard was  _ smiling _ at me as he stood over my brother’s body, covered in his blood. He said something, I don’t know what. I was in shock or just too focused on Milo’s body or something. But he said something, and then he shot me twice. I fell against a wall and slid to the ground. I guess he thought I was dead, because he started to walk away, saying that it was a shame I couldn’t put up a better fight because who was going to protect Benny and Leland and my parents now? I was barely conscious, but I knew I couldn’t let him hurt anyone else. I couldn’t let him kill anyone else. So I made sure I had the knife in my hands and I got to my feet and I walked to him and he turned around and I stabbed him. Right in the heart. I knew exactly where it was. I was a medical student, about to graduate, too. I just had a week of exams and I was done. I watched the light leave his eyes. I don’t think I’ll ever forget seeing that. It made my heart go cold. Right after I stabbed him, he shot me again, right in the stomach, and then he dropped to the floor, dead. I collapsed right beside him, ready to die. I was ready for it to be over. I  _ wanted _ to die.

“The next thing I know I’m waking up in a hospital room. There’s a police officer stationed outside my door and a nurse checking my vitals. I tried to talk, but my throat was so dry that I couldn’t. She gave me some water and asked me how I was feeling. I asked her what happened. She told me I was shot in three places, that I was lucky to be alive. I wished I wasn’t, but I didn’t tell her that. When Camryn shot me, he hit my shoulder twice, two inches below the brachial artery, and he shot me in my abdomen, puncturing my stomach. She told me I was lucky that someone had called 911 when they did and that the cops and paramedics got there when they did. Otherwise I would have died. The funny thing was, I didn’t feel lucky. I had no one. There was no one for me to call. Not even an emergency contact. He was dead. And by that point my family had disowned me. I was so alone. Sometimes there’s a part of me that still wishes I had died that night.”

At this point, Maggie’s body shook like a leaf caught in the wind. He chest felt tight and constricted and it was hard for her to breathe. She was curled in on herself, tears streaming down her face. It was then that the Doctor realized she had moved away from him. He pulled her into his arms and rocked her gently, cradling her head with his hand when she buried her face in his chest and sobbed.

The Doctor hushed her softly and kissed the top of her head, “I forgive you,” he said, his voice wrought with emotion.

Maggie looked up at him and saw he had tears of his own and gave a small laugh, “What have you got to cry about?” she hiccupped.

He smiled sadly at her, “You. Your story. The fact that you had lost all hope. It breaks both my hearts to hear what happened to you.”

She sniffed and wiped her nose on the sleeve of her shirt, “I’m sorry.”

He let out an incredulous laugh, “What for? You’ve nothing to be sorry for, love,” he assured, taking her face in his hands and wiping away her tears with his thumbs. He held her like she was something precious. As though she were the greatest treasure in the entire universe and he had to keep her safe at any cost. She had never been held like that before It made her heart stutter in her chest. “It does clear up a few things, though,” he added.

He brow furrowed in confusion, “How so?”

“Well, we’ve both been having dreams of eachother’s memories. I’ve dreamed of what you’ve just told me. I just didn’t ask you about it because- well, I supposeit was because I just didn’t want it to be true,” he said.

“I wish it wasn’t,” she sniffed again and leaned into his chest.

He tucked her head under his chin, “So do I. And I didn’t just dream of the night your brother died. I dreamed of everything else, too.”

She hiccupped again, “Oh.”

“You do know that none of it was your fault?” the Doctor asked.

“Some part of me does,” Maggie said, “The rest of me? Well… the rest of me says there had to be some other way of avoiding all of this. But it’s the same part of me that still wishes I had died that night.”

“No. Not my Maggie Hale. My Maggie Hale is a fighter. She wouldn’t let something as simple as a bullet stop her from protecting the ones she loves,” he ran his fingers through her hair, careful of the many tangles, “And there’s nothing you could have done to avoid it.”

“I know. Even if I had gone to the police before, it’s not like anyone would have believed me. And even if they had, it’s not like anything would have happened. He had enough money to get away with murder. He almost did, too. He would have if his aim had been better. Two inches up and I wouldn’t be here,” her hand reflexively went to the two scars on her shoulder.

“Can I see them?” he asked, “Your scars?”

She hesitated, but nodded. If she could trust him with her story and with her life, what were a few scars in comparison? Maggie pulled away from him and kept her back to him as she pulled her shirt over her head. Both of the shots in her shoulder went clean through, so she had scars on both her back and her front. She flinched away reflexively when the Doctor’s gently brushed against the scars.

He immediately pulled his hand away, “Sorry.”

“No, it’s- it’s okay,” she looked back at him over her shoulder.

“You were really lucky,” he said softly.

Maggie nodded, “Either that or someone out there doesn’t like me very much.”

“Well whatever the case, I’m glad you’re alive, Maggie Hale,” the Doctor’s fingers brushed against scars again, “Really really glad. Can I see the front?”

She nodded and turned for him to look at the scars from the entry wounds. Again, he reached up and went to gently touch them, but stopped himself while his fingers were inches away.

“Is this alright?” he asked.

She nodded, “I trust you.”

He offered a small smile as his fingertips traced the outline, “Somehow there is always beauty in pain.”

“There’s beauty in everything if you look hard enough,” Maggie said.

He smile widened a bit, “Spoken like a true artist.”

“I could say the same to you, Doctor,” she said with a small smile, doing her best not to be self conscious under his intense gaze.

His fingertips brushed against the scar on her stomach before going a few inches to the right, “What’s this one from?”

She chuckled, “My appendix. Far less dramatic.”

He chuckled as well, “Quite.”

He asked her about the other scars that he could see, finding them to be a good way to distract her from the pain she still carried in her heart and listened intently to the stories that belonged to each one.

After a while, Maggie had a question of her own, “Where’s Jack?”

“Dropped him off at home. He said he had some things to do, but that he’d call when he was finished,” the Doctor said.

“He didn’t say goodbye,” Maggie said sadly.

“He siad they were pressing issues.”

“We’re in a time machine,” she pointed out.

The Doctor chuckled, “Funny how you can forget that sort of thing. So what’s next for our Maggie Hale?”

She yawned, “Probably sleep. Food at some point. A shower, hopefully. And then maybe another adventure,” she pulled her shirt back on.

“Speaking of,” the Doctor went and reached across her and grabbed a box with a ribbon tied around it, “Got you something.”

She laughed, “You’re incredible! Everything that was happening and you still manage to get me a souvenier!”

He just smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners, “Open it.”

Maggie pulled the end of the ribbon and watched the bow unravel before pulling the lid off of the box. Hiding under the lid was a hand-made bracelet made of different strips of leather braided together and a key on a chain.

She picked up the bracelet first, “This was-”

He nodded, “Donny’s, yeah. Kid Blink gave it to me when you were sleeping and asked me to give it to you. Said Donny would have wanted you to have it.”

She nodded, “Just so. Would you-?”

“Yeah.”

The Doctor helped Maggie tied the bracelet around her left wrist.

“What’s the key unlock?” she asked.

“The door to the Tardis. Figured it was high time you got one,” the Doctor said.

She smiled and picked it up, slipping it over her head, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Now, we should both get some sleep.”

She nodded in agreement.

The two got ready for bed and then climbed under the covers on their respective sides. They got comfortable and then lay in silence before Maggie broke it.

“I’m sorry I keep crying,” she said.

“You’ve got nothing to be sorry for,” the Doctor responded, turning his head to look at her.

She rolled on her side to look at him, “But it’s got to get annoying hasn’t it? I mean, I’m crying every day almost.”

He shrugged, “You’ve had a lot going on. Honestly, I’m glad your crying as often as you are.”

She frowned, “Really?”

He rolled on his side to face her more fully, “Yeah. I mean it’s a healthier way to deal with your emotions than bottling them up.”

She thought for a moment, “I guess you’re right.”

“Usually am,” he said with a grin.

“Shut up,” she lightly hit him with the back of her hand, chuckling.

“You know, I don’t think that’s possible. Always talking, me. I never shut up.”

Now it was her turn to grin, “Not true.”

“Oh yea? Name one time I’ve  _ actually _ shut up,” he challenged.

Her grin widened, “What do I get in return?”

“If you can?”

She nodded.

He thought for a moment, “Fish and chips. My treat. Deal?”

“Deal.”

“Alright, so when have I actually managed to shut up?”

“While you were sleeping?” she said, grinning wider than the grinch.

“Oh that’s cheating!” he exclaimed.

She laughed, “No it’s not. You said if I could name one time and I did!”

He chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief, “Fine.”

“You owe me a date, mister,” she bragged.

“Seems I do.”

They lay there in a comfortable silence before Maggie broke it again.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Keeping your promise. Taking care of me. Everything else you’ve done for me. Take your pick.”

He gave her a soft smile, “I will never make you a promise I can’t keep.”

She offered a small smile, “I’m going to hold you to that, star man.”

“I should hope so,” he held his arms out to her, “Now what are you doing all the way over there? Get over here.”

She giggled and moved over to him. He rolled onto his back and let her get comfortable with her head on his chest and arm across his stomach. She let out a content sigh as he wrapped his arms around her and yawned.

“Goodnight, Doctor,” Maggie said softly.

He gave a yawn himself, “Goodnight, love.”


	10. Chapter 10

When Maggie woke up, it was to the most unexpected thing. Her phone buzzed on incessantly the nightstand next to her head. She groaned and moved to reach for it, but was stopped by a familiar pair of arms around her middle.

“Doctor, you’ve got to let go,” she whined.

“Never,” he said, half-asleep, his voice scratchy from sleep.

She rolled her eyes and tried to wiggle her way out of his arms, but he tightened them around her. She groaned in frustration and kept wiggling, but his arms were practically sealed around her waist. She silently cursed her big hips as she pulled the two of them to the other side of the bed so that she could finally reach her phone.

“You’re ridiculous,” she muttered as she finally was able to reach her phone. She picked it up and squinted at the caller ID, but all she saw was fuzzy white things that could have been either letters or numbers, she had no idea. She found the little green circle and tapped it before holding the phone up to her ear, answering it with a groggy, “Hello?”

The voice on the other end was panicked, “Maggie?”

“Yeah. Who’s this?”

“Oh thank heavens. I was worried you might have changed your phone number. It’s Leland.”

“Leland?” Maggie sat up, suddenly alert and awake as she nudged at the Doctor to wake him up so that he would let go of her, “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

The Doctor blinked his eyes open and sat up with a groan, “Leland like your sister Leland?”

Maggie covered his mouth with her hand to silence him, nodding. He started to lick the palm of her hand, but she ignored him, keeping her hand in place.

“You know how you told her not to get into the same crowd you were in when you were in high school?” Leland asked timidly.

She didn’t like where this was going, “Yeah?”

“Well, I didn’t listen,” Leland siad, “and I’m in a bit of trouble.”

“Where are you?” Maggie threw the blankets off her legs and got out of bed, only to trip over something on the floor that she couldn’t see and fall to the floor of the bedroom about as gracefully as an off-balance flamingo. She cursed loudly, “Where are my glasses?”

The Doctor helped her to her feet and handed her her glasses. She took them and put them on and gave him a quick grateful smile before heading out the bedroom door.

“I’m at the old garage you and Milo used to have. It was the only place I could think to go,” Leland said.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can, okay? Sit tight and don’t touch anything until I get there, got it?” Maggie instructed, growling in frustration when she came across the console room instead of the closet like she was trying to get to.

“Don’t touch anything? You won’t be here for at least a day,” Leland said incredulously.

Maggie chuckled, accepting her fate and staying in the console room waiting for the Doctor to catch up, “I’ll be there sooner than you think, kid. Sit tight, okay?”

“Okay. I love you.”

“Love you too. Stay safe,” Maggie hung up the phone and looked up at the Doctor.

“Where are we going?” he asked.

“New York, my time. But first we need to stop at my place to get a few things. We can get dressed there,” she gave him her address and the two of them started flipping switches and pushing buttons and things, “Hang on. How was she able to call me? We’re in 1899 New York.”

“I put a thing in your phone that let’s anyone call you wherever you are,” the Doctor answered.

“Oh. Neat,” the Tardis landed and Maggie went to the door and out into the world.

“Is she okay?” the Doctor asked, following closely after her as she went into her flat building and to the stairwell, carrying his clothes in a bundle in his arms.

Maggie shook her head, “I don’t know. She’s in trouble, though.”

“So you’re going to get her out of it?” he asked.

She nodded and came to a stop in front of a door. She went for her keys but then realized she forgot them in the Tardis in her haste, “Could you-?”

“Yeah,” he pointed his sonic screwdriver at the lock and it opened with a click.

“Thanks,” she went in and went straight to her room, “It’s part of the job description of big sister. Got to help the little ones out of trouble when they get into it.”

The Doctor changed in the living room and looked around the room he was in as he started buttoning his shirt, “How did she get your number?”

“I’ve had the same phone number since I was sixteen,” she answered.

“Right.”

When Maggie came out of her room, she didn’t look like the Maggie the Doctor had come to know at all. And not just because she was dressing differently. Her entire demeanor was changing right before his eyes. She was guarded, more rough around the edges. This Maggie had her hair pulled back in a tight french braid, contacts instead of glasses, black cargo pants that hugged her hips, a white camisole and a red leather jacket with black Doc Martens. A backpack was in her hands as she walked around the flat with purpose, shoving things inside it.

The Doctor opened and closed his mouth as he tried to think of something to say.

Maggie started going through the drawers of a desk, “You got something to say, say it.”

“I-er. Well, um, that is… This is a new look,” he said lamely.

“It’s actually an old one,” she turned to look at the Doctor, zipping up the backpack, “Look, it Leland’s in the kind of trouble I think she’s in, then I’m going to be a lot different than the Maggie you know.”

“Yeah I sort of gathered that,” he said, putting his hands in his pockets.

She glared at him, “I mean a lot different, Doctor. I’ll have to be able to protect my sister. I won’t be Doctor Maggie or Artist Maggie, in fact, I won’t even be Maggie except to my sister. I’m giving you a way out. You can just drop me off in New York and I’ll call you when everything’s settled to pick me up. Because you won’t like what you see, I’m telling you now.”

“And leave you? No, thanks thought,” the Doctor said, giving a small shake of his head.

“You sure? It won’t be pretty. At all. It’ll be more along the lines of my life right before and during Camryn Xander. It was pretty messy,” she told him.

“Before you had Milo to cover your back. Now, you’ve got me,” he promised, “I made you a promise and I intend to keep it,” he said, looking her straight in the eyes.

She nodded, “Alright. But you’ll have to follow my lead and listen to whatever I tell you. I say jump, you ask how high, got it?”

He nodded, “Got it.”

She gave a small smile, “Alright. Come on. Time for you to meet my sister.”

They went into the Tardis and Maggie had him move it across the Atlantic to New York, behind an old garage that hadn’t been opened in years before walking out, holding her hand out for the Doctor to take as she walked purposefully toward the door to the garage. He slipped his hand into hers, lacing their fingers together, and gave it a little squeeze.

“Oh, by the way, you’re going to have to dress differently, use a proper name, and you’re going to have to pretend to be my boyfriend. I promise it’ll all make sense at some point, you’re just going to have to trust me,” she said as she fished around for the keys to the garage.

“Okay.”

Maggie looked up at him in surprise, “Okay? You’re trusting me with all this just like that?”

He nodded, “Pretty much.”

She gave him a soft smile that was gone as soon as it appeared, “Okay. Stay out here until I give a shout. And stay on your toes.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he stepped aside a bit.

She made a face at him, “See you in a sec,” and unlocked the door, pushed it up, and stepped inside, “Leland? It’s me.”

“Maggie?”

“Yeah, kiddo. It’s me.”

A small blonde came rushing out of the shadows and plowed into Maggie, throwing her arms around her, “Oh my gosh. I missed you so much! How did you get here so fast? I thought you were in London?”

“I was, but a friend and I were already in town, and I convinced him to come help,” Maggie said, hugging her tightly.

Leland grinned, “A friend or a friend friend?” she wiggled her eyebrows, giggling.

Maggie shook her head with a smile, “A friend. Let me go get him and you can full us in on what’s going on, okay?”

“Okay.”

Maggie gave her a small smile and kissed her cheek before going to fetch the Doctor, “Come on, you. Come meet my baby sister.”

He nodded and followed her into the garage.

Maggie walked to her sister and stopped, “Leland, this is my friend, the Doctor. Doctor, this is Leland.”

Leland was a small, round woman with caramel skin, dark brown eyes, dyed blonde hair. She looked like a younger version of Maggie.

Leland frowned, “Doctor who?”

The Doctor smiled, “Just the Doctor. It’s great to meet you.”

Maggie closed the door behind him and flipped a switch to turn on the lights with a practiced flick of the wrist and started walking around to refamiliarize herself with it. She wished Milo were here with her to walk around with her.

“Oh it’s a garage,” the Doctor said. Maggie wasn’t really listening.

“Not just any garage.  _ The _ garage. This is where Maggie and Milo would work their magic,” Leland told him, “It became a bit of a sacred place after Milo died and Maggie left, though. People come from all over to leave candles and flowers sometimes.”

Maggie went to her car and pulled the cover off of it, revealing a dark blue 1965 Ford Mustang that had seen better days. She ran her hand along the side as she made her way to the door, where she rested her elbows on it and leaned over, looking inside.

“What magic?” the Doctor asked, watching Maggie as she looked over the car.

Leland chuckled, “She hasn’t told you has she?”

“Not this story,” he said.

“Maggie and Milo used to own the streets around here. They had the fastest cars and were the best drivers around. The called Maggie the Lady of Time because nobody could beat the record she set on the track,” Leland explained.

The Doctor almost choked, “What did they call her?”

“The Time Lady, or the Lady of Time or any other version of that,” Leland repeated.

He stared at Maggie.

“Does that mean something to you?” Leland asked.

He looked over at Leland and came back to reality, “What? Oh, er, no not really. So tell me more about this street racing thing.”

Leland laughed, “I was right. You are a rich white boy, aren’t you?”

“Nah. Haven’t got a penny to my name, but you could say that I don’t know much about this part of the world, in a sense,” he said, not at all offended by her comment.

She shrugged, “Either way, for a white boy, you speak really good Spanish.”

The Doctor smiled, “Thank you.”

Maggie looked over at Milo’s car, hidden under a cover of its own, and was debating on whether or not she wanted to uncover it when a cry filled the shop. A baby’s cry. She blinked in confusion and looked over at her sister as she ran towards the source of the crying. Maggie followed after her with hesitant steps until she found Leland holding a baby in her arms, hushing it.

“Leland?” Maggie started carefully, “Is that-?”

“Mine?” she interrupted, “Yeah, he is. Do you want to hold him?”

Maggie just stared at the baby in her sister’s arms, unable to form a reply.

The Doctor pushed gently at the small of her back, propelling her forward, “Go on, Maggie.”

She walked to her sister and gently took the baby into her arms, “What’s his name?”

“Milo. After his tio,” Leland said, “Leo thought it would be a good idea. If he ended up being a girl, we were going to name him Maggie. After you.”

Maggie smiled down at the baby in her arms and gave him her finger to hold, “Hi, little one. I’m your Tia Maggie,.” She looked up at her sister, “He’s beautiful,” she said, moving her hand so that she could hold Milo properly.

“Isn’t he?”

Maggie looked over at the Doctor, “Doctor, this is mi sobrino,” she couldn’t stop smiling.

The Doctor walked over to come to a stand beside her, “He’s beautiful.” He gave little Milo his finger and smile when he grasped it tightly, “Strong little guy, isn't he?”

Maggie looked up at the Doctor with a smile and then looked over at her sister, “So you and Leo, huh?”

Leland smiled and held up her left hand, showing off two rings on her ring finger, “Yep. Two years ago. How long have you and the Doctor been together?”

Maggie shook her head, “We’re just friends, Leland.”

“I have an idea. Why don’t you let me look after Milo while you two catch up?” the Doctor offered while Milo started babbling.

Leland looked to Maggie, who nodded, “You can trust him, kid.”

Leland nodded, “Sure. Just be careful.”

The Doctor gingerly took Milo from Maggie’s arms, “Oh, don’t you worry. I love kids,” he started making faces at the baby in his arms.

Maggie let out a soft chuckle and then turned to her sister, shrugging off her jacket and tossing it onto a work table, “So what’s going on?”


	11. Chapter 11

Leland chuckled, “Alright, I guess I’ll just get straight to the point. About a year ago, when I was pregnant with Milo, I started going to the races again. I had gone to them all the time when I was in high school and usually went around the anniversary of Milo’s death. Other than that, after high school, I didn’t really go much. Anyways, when I started going again, I started talking to this girl, Christi. We became good friends, but she was killed a few days ago. Her family thinks I did it.”

“Did you?” Maggie asked.

Hurt flashed across her face, “Of course not! I was in the middle of a class.”

“But they don’t believe you?”

She shook her head, “No.”

“Do you know Christi’s last name?”

“Delgato.”

Maggie cursed several times before chuckling wryly, “You never could get yourself into a small bit of trouble could you?”

Leland laughed, “Go big or go home.”

“For once, couldn’t you just go home?” Maggie asked.

The pair laughed for a bit before Leland smirked, “So tell me about you and the Doctor.”

Maggie chuckled and shook her head, “I told you, we’re just friends!”

“With the way you look at eachother, I don’t think so, Mags. And the way he was looking at you while you were holding Milo? He definitely likes you, hermana major,” Leland said matter-of-factly.

Maggie got to her feet and wet to her tool box to get started on fixing up the Mustang, “No way. Everyone looks at babies like that.”

“He wasn’t looking at Milo. Man, you really are as dense as Mama always said you are, aren’t you?”

Maggie rolled her eyes and opened the hood of the car before going to get a jack and some jack stands, “Yeah, thanks. Anyways, how is she?”

“Mama? Oh she’s the same old bull-headed softie. She misses you a lot. And Milo. Everyone does,” Leland reported.

Maggie scoffed, “Of course everyone misses Milo. He was always everyone’s favorite. I was the unsociable one that he gave a good face,” she jacked up the front of the car and placed the jack stands under the front before doing the same to the back.

“People miss you too, you idiot,” Leland retorted.

“Not everyone, Leland.”

“Papa misses you somewhere in his heart. He carries an old picture of you in his wallet. He thinks it’s a secret, but we all know it’s there,” Leland offered a small smile.

Maggie put the jack away and kicked the crawler to the front of the car, sitting on it heavily when it was where she wanted it, “Then he should suck up his pride and call me.”

“You know he’s too stubborn for that,” Leland chided.

“So am I,” Maggie lay on her back and pushed herself under the car, looking it over before sliding back out, grabbing a tool, and sliding back under, “How’s Benny?”

“He’s opened a coffee shop in Brooklyn. Called it M n’ M Coffee,” Leland said.

Maggie paused for a moment, the only sound coming from the Doctor and baby Milo as he talked to Maggie’s nephew and the baby babbled in reply, “Good for him,” and then continued to work on the car again.

“Why can’t you just come home, Maggie? We all miss you so much,” Leland asked, the strain of being seperated from her only sister lacing her voice.

Maggie slid out from under the Mustang and sat up, already covered in dirt and engine grease. Somewhere, the Doctor was silent, listening intently to Maggie’s reply as he swayed back and forth to keep Milo from fussing.

She sighed, thinking over her answer before giving it, “This just isn’t my home anymore, Leland,” she said.

Leland’s face betrayed her hurt, “Then what is? London?”

Maggie shook her head, “Don’t look at me like that. New York hasn’t been home in a long time. It stopped being home when Papa disowned me. It stopped being home at all when everything with Camryn started and especially after Milo died. “

Leland’s face softened, “I understand.”

Maggie shook her head, “No. You don’t. Not really. You weren’t kicked out of your home at the age of seventeen because your own father couldn’t stand the sight of you. You didn’t have to-” she cut herself off, “It doesn’t matter. New York isn’t home for me, Leland. Neither is London, really. Nowhere is. I’ve been travelling with the Doctor for I don’t know how long. Home has become a crazy blue box that’s bigger on the inside and travels through space and time.”

Leland looked at her like she was crazy, “Are you high?”

Maggie shook her head, “No. I’m not high.”

Leland shook her head, “You really like him, don’t you?”

Maggie frowned, “Who?”

“The Doctor, dummy.”

She was silent for a moment before she slid back under the Mustang again, “Honestly? I don’t know. I’ve barely had time to stop for breath since I’ve met him. It’s been one adventure after another.”

Leland smiled at her big sister, “I think you like him.”

“Think what you like, doesn’t make you right,” Maggie commented off-handedly.

The Doctor looked down at little Milo and found him rather asleep in his arms, so went to take him back to his mother.

Leland smiled, “You’re a natural.”

He chuckled, “Kids are easy at this age. It’s when they get to be around two that they’re a bit more difficult. They get into all kinds of trouble that you wouldn’t even think of.”

Leland frowned a bit as she took her son from him, “Do you have kids?”

He gave a small sad smile, but said nothing.

“He used to,” Maggie answered for him.

“Oh. Oh, gosh, I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine what that must be like,” Leland apologized.

He nodded, “It’s the kind of pain I wouldn’t wish upon my worst enemy.”

She put a hand on his arm and he gave her a small smile by way of thanks before crouching down next to Maggie.

“Need anything?” he asked.

Her hand appeared from under the car, “Three-quarter socket wrench, would you?”

He located it and dutifully placed it in her waiting hand.

“Thanks, love,” her hand disappeared under the car again, “Leland, why don’t you get some sleep on the cot in the office? We’ll be up for a while.”

“I’ll get you dinner first,” Leland said, “When was the last time you two ate?”

Maggie rolled her eyes good-naturedly and pushed herself out from under the car to get a new part, tossing the old one on the table, “Recently enough.” Her stomach betrayed her, growling loudly.

Leland shook her head, “I’ll go get you something.”

“No. You’re not going anywhere. With the Delgato’s trying to hunt you down? I don’t think so, chica. Call in an order from somewhere,” Maggie said.

Leland glared at her, “I can take care of myself,  _ Mama _ ,” she mocked.

“Oh yeah?” Maggie turned to face her sister and walked toward her, “Then why did you call me if you don’t need my help?”

Leland’s face scrunched up in frustration, “Fine. But I get to choose where the food comes from.”

“Whatever. But you don’t leave this garage without me. My help, my rules, got it?”

Leland rolled her eyes, “Yeah. I got it.”

Maggie looked over at the Doctor, “You might want to change into clothes you don’t mind getting dirty, Doctor. There’s a cabinet in the office that’s got some extra clothes.”

“Right.”

The Doctor disappeared for a few moments while Leland made a phone call, but Maggie didn’t pay much attention to the conversation. Maggie pushed herself out from under the car and looked around for a rag to wipe her hands on. The door to the office opened and the Doctor stepped out in boots, khaki cargo pants, and a white tank top with grease stains on it from previous use around the shop. Maggie had to stop herself from staring. For being so lanky, you wouldn’t expect him to have such nice- she shook her head to clear it and focused on finding the part she needed.

Leland went to the stereo and turned it on and music started pouring out from the speakers.

Maggie smiled, “That’s more like it.”

Maggie and the Doctor worked on fixing up her Mustang, working as a perfect team. Leland watched from the sidelines. The way they moved around eachother suggested that they had done this time and time again.

“How did you know about my kids?” the Doctor asked as Maggie worked on dismantling the radiator.

“I had a dream about them,” she said simply, “Well, one. A little girl. She was beautiful.”

“Yeah, she was,” the Doctor said sadly.

Maggie looked over at him and gave him a sad smile, putting her hand over his, and kissed his cheek, “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

He offered a small smile, taking hold of her hand and giving it a squeeze, “Me too. But, such is life.”

She nodded, “Unfortunately, yes,” and started to get back to work.

“I’m sorry about your baby,” the Doctor said softly.

Maggie froze, her head snapping up to look at him, “How did you-?”

She was interrupted by a sharp knock on the door to the garage. She went to a work table and grabbed a shotgun that was attached to the bottom of it and went to the door.

“Who is it?” she asked.

“Open the door and see, mi amor,” a woman’s voice called.

Maggie nearly dropped the shotgun and hastily opened the door, “Mama?”

The woman on the other side smiled widely, “Mi Maggita.”

“Come in!” Maggie stepped aside to let her mother through and then closed the door behind her, “What are you doing here?”

“Leland called. Told me that you three needed feeding,” she explained.

Maggie gave her sister a look as she returned the shotgun to its proper place. Leland only grinned at her. Maggie stuck her tongue out at her and Leland returned the gesture, making Maggie roll her eyes.

“So where do you want me to put this?” their mother asked.

Maggie gestured vaguely to one of the work tables, “Over there somewhere,” and hunched over the engine of the Mustang to keep working.

“You okay?” the Doctor asked in a low voice.

She shrugged, “Yeah. I just wish my sister wouldn’t pull these kinds of surprises on me.”

“Did you want to avoid your mother?” the Doctor asked in confusion.

She shrugged noncommittally.

Maggie’s mother set the dish on the table and turned to face her eldest daughter, “Is that all the greeting I get?” she asked, putting her hands on her hips.

The Doctor chuckled. It was obvious where Maggie and Leland got their spunk from. 

Maggie held her hands out helplessly. Her hands, arms, neck, and even some of her face were covered in dirt and grime from the engine in the Mustang, “I’m all dirty, Mama. I didn’t want to get you dirty, too.”

She rolled her eyes and pulled her daughter into her embrace, “You think I care about that right now? I haven’t seen you in twelve years, mijita.”

Maggie wrapped her arms around her mother tightly, “I know. I’m sorry.”

She tsked her and pulled away to hold her at arms length, “You have nothing to be sorry about.”

Maggie nodded, tears coming to her eyes. She quickly wiped them away, leaving stripes of engine grease on her face, “Mama, this is my friend the Doctor. Doctor, this is my mother, Esperanza Hale.”

Esperanza smiled warmly at the Doctor, “It’s wonderful to meet you, Doctor.”

“And you as well, Mrs. Hale,” the Doctor returned the greeting, “I’d shake your hand, but well,” he held out his hands. He was just as dirty as Maggie.

Esperanza smiled, “We don’t shake hands in this family, doctor,” and pulled him into a bone-crushing hug.

The Doctor chuckled, “Fine by me.”

Esperanza took advantage of their close proximity by whispering in his ear, “If you hurt my Maggie, I will find you, and I will kill you.”

“Understood,” the Doctor said amiably.

They parted and smiled at eachother.

“So, you two are just friends?”

Maggie groaned, exasperated, and rolled her eyes, “Mama!”

“What?” she feigned innocence, “It’s just a question!”

Maggie huffed and went to get herself some food, but pulled her hand back with a hiss when her mother smacked the back of her hand sharply.

“Did you forget your manners?” she scolded.

“I’m twenty-nine, Mama. Not seven,” Maggie went to reach for the food again, but had her hand smacked again, “Aye! Stop that!”

“Go wash your hands! Dios mio, Maggie,” Esperanza said in exasperation.

Maggie rolled her eyes, but went and did as she was told.

The Doctor followed Maggie and waited his turn at the sink as she scrubbed her hands and arms, glancing back at Esperanza, “I like her.”

Maggie chuckled, “I’m not surprised.”

He grinned, “She looks just like you. Just, well, older and with brown eyes.”

She nodded, “I got the green from my dad. The only one out of the four of us to get them, too.”

“Nice,” they were silent for a moment as Maggie scrubbed hard at the grease, “Why do they keep assuming we’re together?”

“Wishful thinking?” she shrugged, moving over to let him have a turn at the sink as she grabbed a towel to dry her hands and forearms, “No idea. I mean, I’m almost thirty and Mama was always saying how I’d be married at twenty-five or something ridiculous like that.”

“Why aren’t you?” he asked, “Married, I mean.”

She shrugged again and looked over at him, leaning against the counter, “I don’t know. I haven’t really been focused on romance or things like that. I’ve had school and Camryn and every thing. Where’s the room for a significant other in all that? Besides, whenever the opportunity arose, it just never felt right, you know?”

He nodded, shutting off the water and plucking the towel from her hands, “Yeah. Even when I had Rose, there was that was… off. I don’t know what it was. I loved her, that’s for sure. But there was just something…”

“Missing,” Maggie finished for him.

He nodded, “Exactly. Anyways, didn’t you ever get lonely?”

She sighed, folding her arms, “All the time. I think that first day at Leonardo’s was the first time I didn’t feel alone in twelve years.

The Doctor watched her sadly as she watched her mother set up a make-shift dinner table, remembering the pang of loneliness that had ached in her for so long, a sadness in her eyes that he knew all too well.

He gave a smile, “Well, now you’ve got me.”

She smiled and bumped him with her still-filthy shoulder, “And you’ve got me. We’re kindred spirits, you and I. Now, come on, star man. I’m starved.”

Maggie walked towards where Esperanza and Leland were sitting and he watched her go. Something she had just said tickled at something in the back of his mind. He couldn’t quite pin down what it was, but it was there, nagging at him. He decided to think about it later and join his friend and her family for a very late dinner.


	12. Chapter 12

Dinner was quite the event. Leland and Esperanza kept making suggestions about the Doctor and Maggie actually being together, but trying to keep it secret or if they weren’t, then they were going to end up together eventually. Maggie was actually getting rather annoyed by this.

“Mama! Just leave it alone, please,” she finally snapped after another one of Esperanza’s not so sly remarks.

Esperanza looked surprised, but let the subject drop. Finally. Maggie let out a relieved sigh. When dinner was finished, Esperanza bid her two daughters, her grandson, and (in her mind at least) her future son in law goodnight and went back home.

Maggie let out a yawn as Milo started fussing, “If you need any help with him, let me know, Lele.”

Leland smiled and nodded as she took Milo into the office so that the two fo them could sleep with at least a little comfort. 

“Where are we sleeping, then?” the Doctor asked.

Maggie looked around the shop, but didn’t find much in the way of things that would be comfortable to sleep on all night. There was one thing, though.

She walked over to Milo’s car and pulled the cover off, revealing a pristine, black 1967 Chevy Impala.

“The front seat is a bit crowded with the steering wheel, so I can take the front and you can take the back if you want,” she offered.

“This was Milo’s car wasn’t it?” it was more a statement than question.

Maggie answered it anyways, “Yes. It was.”

“What happened to your car?”

“Race went south. Literally. My opponent drove me off a cliff. I should have died, but I only had bumps and bruises, a few scratches, and a concussion.”

“Right.”

They climbed into the Impala and lay on their respective rows. 

“How did you know about my baby?” Maggie asked softly, her voice almost a whisper as she was almost too afraid to ask.

“I dreamed about it. That was a really brave thing you did, Maggie. You didn’t have to keep it. In fact, no one would have blamed you if you had gotten rid of it,” the Doctor said.

“It wasn’t the baby’s fault its father was the scum of the earth,” she said with a shrug, even though he couldn’t see her.

“Still. You were very brave to carry Camryn’s child,” he said.

“I gave her up for adoption anyways. Not like it matters that much, Doctor. I don’t even know what she looks like,” Maggie argued, wishing he would change the subject as she wiped a tear from her cheek and readjusted how she was laying. She wished they could sleep together tonight. She wanted to be held. There was a reason she never told anyone about her daughter.

He seemed to get the hint.

That was the first time they fell asleep with one of them being slightly annoyed at the other.

Maggie would go on to dream about how beautiful a life her daughter could have had with her if she only had a half-decent man as her father. Or if Maggie had been strong enough to keep her. Brave enough. Whichever. It didn’t matter. She was gone. She was happy with a family who could love her the way she deserved. Maggie’s dream switched from visions of her daughter to the memories of the Doctor’s daughter. She was a beautiful child with the brightest smile she had ever seen. Suddenly the dream changed again. 

Maggie was in a hospital of some sort, holding a baby in her arms. She was happy. Really truly happy. She looked down at the little one in her arms and then smiled up at her husband. Warm brown eyes were crinkled in the corners from how much he was smiling.

“Well done, my Maggie Hale,” the Doctor leaned down and kissed her forehead with as much reverence as a monk would kiss the first transcripts of the bible should he ever get the chance to hold it in his hands, and as much love as a husband has for his wife who had just brought their child into the world. The last bit was true, but the Doctor was no monk.

Maggie woke with a start. That was the oddest dream she had had in a while. And that was saying something because she had dreamt a lot of the Doctor’s memories and he had seen some pretty strange things. She sat up and rubbed her face with both hands to chase away the sleepiness. A look to the backseat showed the Doctor sleeping soundly, oblivious to the weird dream Maggie had just had about the two of them. As quietly as she could manage, Maggie got out of the car. She put one of her favorite CD’s into the stereo and played it before going over to the Mustang to keep working. She didn’t pay attention to how long she was working on the car. Time didn’t matter.

As Maggie worked on pulling the engine out of the car, she puzzled over her dream. What was that about? What did it mean? Why could she still feel the Doctor’s lips on her forehead? She shook her head to clear it as she carefully moved the engine and lowered it to the ground. It was just something random her brain had come up with while she was sleeping, she concluded. Nothing more nothing less. Just a very very strange dream. She looked over at the Impala that held the still-sleeping Doctor as she chewed her lip, thinking.

“Whatcha thinkin’ about?” Leland’s voice sounded.

Maggie blinked and looked over at her sister and then kept blinking, “I forgot to take out my contacts last night.”

She went into the full bathroom connected to the office and grabbed her backpack that was on the desk to get what she needed to fix her contact problem. She was about to put her contact in her eye when Leland spoke again.

“You like him don’t you?” she asked.

Maggie nearly dropped her contact and cursed, “What?”

Leland smirked, “The Doctor. You like him, don’t you?”

She shook her head in amusement, “I should hope so. He’s my best friend.”

Leland rolled her eyes, “No I mean you  _ like _ him. Like you want to date him.”

Maggie sighed and decided she would try her hand at brushing her untamable curly hair, “Leland-”

“There’s no use in denying it. He’s cute and he’s sweet. Why don’t you go for it?” Leland asked.

She paused for a moment, “It’s not that simple, Lele. I wish it was, but it isn’t.”

“What makes it so complicated?” Leland asked.

“He’s not human,” Maggie wanted to say, “We’ve both been through so much trauma. I’m broken.”

Instead, what she said was, “The only semblance of a relationship I’ve ever had was with Camryn, Leland. I don’t know how to let myself be vulnerable like that. Especially after him. I just- I can’t.”

Leland gave her a sad smile and took her hand, “I think he’s already begun to chip at your walls, Mag.”

Maggie squeezed her hand and then went back to brushing her hair, “Maybe.”

Milo started to cry and Leland went to him. Maggie finished brushing her hair and took a shower. It felt nice to wash away all the grime from working on the Mustang. She sang as she washed herself, forgetting the world around her for a moment as she let herself just live in the moment for a few minutes. It was silly, sure, but therapeutic. Leland smiled to herself as she fed Milo and listened to her sister’s muffled voice. It had been so long since she had heard her sing. Maggie kept singing as she got out of the shower, dried off, and wrapped her hair in a towel before starting to get dressed. The door to the bathroom opened and revealed the Doctor.

His eyes widened and he gave a quick, “Sorry!” and slammed the door shut.

Maggie stared at it. She looked down at herself, then back at the door, and laughed at the sheer hilarity of it all. She went to the door and opened it, “Doctor, you can come it.”

He looked over and then turned around so as to avoid seeing her bra and jean clad form, “No it’s alright. Finish up and then I’ll take my turn.”

“Doctor, you were literally looking at my scars the other night and this is basically what I was wearing. Come in and brush your teeth,” she chuckled and went back into the bathroom.

The Doctor came in just as she was flipping the towel on her head down to take her hair out of it and got a faceful of towel.

Maggie straightened and looked at him with wide eyes before bursting with laughter, “I’m so sorry! Oh my- I didn’t see you-” she could hardly get the words out with how hard she was laughing.

He joined in, “Well good morning to you too!”

They laughed until they both had stitches in their sides before they were finally able to get it together and get ready for the day. Maggie put on a clean tank top and toweled off her hair, parted it, and left so that he could take a shower himself. Maggie went to Milo who was laying on his back, staring at the ceiling.

She smiled and picked him up, “Hello, beautiful boy. Did you sleep well?” She kept talking to him and when he started fussing, she checked his diaper and then went to change it. Maggie danced around a bit as she sang to Milo while making faces at him to make him smile.

The Doctor opened the bathroom door and was about to ask Maggie if she had a toothbrush for him to use, but stopped to watch her dance and sing with Milo as she threw away a soiled diaper. He smiled to himself as he thought about what an excellent mother she would be and then put his hands in his pockets,”Have you got a toothbrush I could use?”

Maggie looked up at him with a smile and nodded, putting Milo down and going to the bathroom where her backpack was waiting. She pulled out two new toothbrushes and held them up, shaking them a bit so that they rattled in their boxes, “Pick one.”

He surveyed his options and then chose the pink one, leaving the green one for her, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” she opened her toothbrush, threw out the box, and got a tube of toothpaste out. She put a little glob on her toothbrush and one on the Doctor’s when he held his out in silent question. They both started brushing their teeth and took turns using the sink to spit and rinse when they were done. The Doctor then went to work shaving, using a razor and shaving cream he had found brand new in the medicine cabinet. Maggie watched him for a bit before starting to pull her hair back so that it would be out of the way while she worked on the Mustang. When it went screwy for the third time, she huffed and started to pull it back into a ponytail.

“Want help?” the Doctor asked, wiping his face with a towel.

“You can braid hair?” she asked.

“I was married with a daughter, love. I think I can manage a simple braid,” he teased.

Maggie chuckled, “Fair enough. Do you need anything?”

“Just a hair tie and a comb.”

She retrieved the items and the two went to the couch in the office. The Doctor took a seat in the middle and Maggie sat on the floor in front of him between his legs, her back against the front of the couch. The Doctor got to work. He was sure to be gentle, but precise, apologizing when it pulled and she winced.

“Are you tender-headed?” he asked after the third wince.

“Yeah. Leland’s much worse than me, though.”

“Should have told me,” he said, “Would have been a bit gentler.”

Maggie snorted, “You’re plenty gentle, Doctor. Mama practically scalped me whenever she would do my hair.”

“I liked her, your mum. She’s cool,” the Doctor commented.

She smiled, “Yeah. She is.”

“Not to mention an excellent cook.”

She laughed, “Maybe one of these days I could cook for you. Papa always said I was Mama’s protege.”

“Sounds like a date. Shall I bring the wine?” he teased.

“I don’t drink, but you’re welcome to bring some for yourself,” she held up the hair tie she was holding as she felt the Doctor get closer to the end of the braid.

He plucked it from her fingers, “Why not?” and held it between his teeth.

She shrugged, “Don’t like the taste. And I prefer to keep my wits about me. Being drunk isn’t fun for me.”

“Makes sense,” he grabbed the hair tie and tied off the tail of the braid, “What’s the real reason?”

She looked up at him, the back of her head hitting the couch cushions, “You mean you haven’t dreamed it yet?”

He shrugged, “I only get bits and pieces. Rarely do I get the whole story.”

She hummed and pushed herself to her feet, “Perhaps I’ll tell you one of these days. For now, let’s get that car finished,” Maggie walked to her nephew and kissed him on the forehead, “Lele where’d you go?”

She stood and looked around, waiting for her sister’s answer.

It didn’t come.

“Leland?” she called.

She searched the entire shop, but didn’t find her sister. When she went to check outside, she found a note on the door that told her where to find her sister.

“Where’d she go?” the Doctor asked over her shoulder.

Maggie held up the note, a fury like none he had ever seen in her eyes, “They took her.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: guns, panic attack, death wish (sorta), lots of emotions in this one.

Maggie looked at the dismantled engine of the Mustang helplessly and then looked over at the Impala. She started walking towards it when the Doctor grabbed her arm.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Going to get my sister back,” she jerked her arm out of his grasp, “Stay here and look after Milo,” and continued on her way to Milo.”

He grabbed her arm again, “If you really think I’m going to let you go after her by yourself, I don’t think you’ve ever been more wrong in your life, Maggie.”

She straightened and looked as though she were about to challenge him, before she decided that would take too much time, “Well, we can’t leave him on his own and we can’t bloody well take him with us.”

“Didn’t your mum say that she still lives in the same place?” the Doctor asked.

Maggie nodded.

“So we take him to her and then we go get Leland. I don’t think she’ll mind that we took a little extra time making sure her son was looked after.”

She sighed, “Fine. Go get him.”

The Doctor went to retrieve him and put him in the baby carrier while Maggie opened the door to the garage and looked for the keys. She found them tucked up in the visor. When she flipped it down, an envelope with her name written on it in Milo’s spikey script fell into her lap. She picked it up and looked at it as she made her way to one of the tables and dropped it onto a mostly clear surface and picked up her jacket. She slipped it on and went to find a relatively clean pair of pair of earmuffs for Milo to wear in the car.

“What are those for?” the Doctor asked, carrying little Milo in a baby carrier.

Maggie carefully placed them over Milo’s ears, “I don’t want to be responsible for my nephew going deaf. And the car’s really loud and I don’t want to scare him. Mostly the scaring thing because it wouldn’t be that big of a deal if he went deaf. The deaf culture is actually a beautiful thing, really-”

“Maggie, love. You’re rambling,” the Doctor pointed out.

She blinked, “Oh. Right. Come on, then.”

They got in the car and Maggie turned it on. The engine roared to life, as if a lion waking from a nice long nap in the sun and testing to make sure it could still roar properly before settling into a low pur as it idled. Maggie put it in gear and started the drive to her parent’s house. Faster than what would be considered “legal”, she arrived and slowed to a stop in front of the house. She killed the engine and got out, grabbing Milo from the Doctor in the back seat.

“Get in the front. I’ll be right back. Stay put,” she ordered.

Maggie went up to the front door of the house and pounded on it with the side of her fist before tucking that hand into her jacket pocket. A man with Maggie’s green eyes opened the door.

“Mija?” he asked softly.

Maggie shook her head, “Haven’t been your ‘mija’ for twelve years, Pap- Miguel. I need you to look after Milo.”

“Milo?” he looked down at the baby in the carrier Maggie was holding, “Where’s Lele?”

“That’s why I need you to look after your grandson,” she held out the carrier to him.

He was flabbergasted at her brusque demeanor, “Maggie, I-”

“I don’t have time to chat, Miguel. I need to make sure my sister makes it to see the light of another day. If you would please take her son so that I can go do that, that would be great,” she snapped.

Miguel took the baby carrier and Maggie turned on her heel and started the walk back towards the car where the Doctor was waiting dutifully in the passenger seat.

“I’m sorry, Maggie!” her father called from the door, “For everything!”

She paused in front of the car door, her hand wrapped around the handle, “Then you should have called!” She pulled the handle to open the door and slid smoothly behind the wheel. She turned on the car and pulled away, tires screeching in her haste to get away from her childhood home.

“Do you know where she is?” the Doctor asked.

“No, I’m just driving like a mad woman to a random location. Of course I know where she is,” she snapped.

The Doctor looked at her, “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” she said, clearly anything but.

He didn’t push it, “So where is she?”

“An old warehouse me and the Delgato boy used to hang out at. He’s the one who took her,” she said through gritted teeth.

She was angry. Really, truly, properly angry. The fury of hell was behind her eyes and the fire that came from it came out through her fingers as her vice-like grip held the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles here white.

“She’ll be okay, Maggie,” he assured.

She cut a glance at him, drifting around a corner, “You really gotta stop making promises you can’t keep. It’s a bad habit.”

“So is bottling up your anger,” he commented.

She scoffed, “You’re one to talk.”

The Doctor frowned, “Sorry?”

“You heard me.”

“What do you mean?”

She rolled her eyes, expertly weaving through traffic like it wasn’t there, “You carry your anger over Galifrey with you like it’s some medal of honor or something, but tell me not to bottle mine up when that’s all you seem to do with yours.”

He frowned at her, but said nothing.

This was their first fight. Well, their first proper fight. They’d had arguments before, but they were usually no bigger than who had hogged the blankets the night before or something equally unimportant in the grand scheme of things.

They screeched to a stop outside an old abandoned warehouse and Maggie looked over at him, taking a breath to steady her nerves.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“I forgive you,” he replied.

“Just like that?” she asked.

He nodded, “Yeah, pretty much.”

She gave a small smile, “You’re too kind to me.”

He returned the smile and shrugged, “Well…”

Maggie’s smile widened for a moment before a flash of nervousness crossed her face and she reached over, grabbed the back of his head, and kissed him firmly right on the mouth.

After a moment, they parted, resting their foreheads against eachother.

“What was that for?” the Doctor asked.

“Just in case. Promise me you won’t stop me from doing whatever I end up doing,” she said.

“I don’t like where this is going,” he said.

She shook her head, “Just, promise me. Please. I need you to let me do whatever I end up doing.”

“Haven’t you got a plan?” he asked.

Maggie shook her head, “I need to see him first, see where his head is at. Then I’ll make a plan. Whatever it is, you can’t stop me. Promise you won’t.”

“I don’t like it, but I promise.”

She gave him a small smile, “Thank you.”

He kissed her again, this time a little softer and a little longer before he broke it, “Let’s go get your sister back.”

They got out of the car and Maggie walked into the warehouse with a confidence she didn’t actually feel. The Doctor took her hand and gave it a squeeze before releasing it again.

“Alright, Daniel. I’m here. That’s what you wanted isn’t it?” she called. Her voice echoed off the walls of the enormous, mostly empty room. A few pallets of boxes were stacked in random places.

“I thought I told you to come alone,” came a booming reply.

She rolled her eyes, “I’m never alone, Dan. I thought you’d remember that.”

Daniel walked into the light, holding a terrified Leland by the arm with a gun to her head, “How could I forget? Where’s the rest of your crew?”

Maggie scoffed, no longer Margaret Hale, but the Lady of Time, with a whole crew at her back who would take care of eachother and do what she told them, “You really think I’m going to show all my cards at once? I think time made your memory hazy, Danny boy.”

He sneered at her, “Shut up!”

She started wandering around, “Or what” You’ll kill me? No you won’t. You won’t even kill Leland. You don’t have the spine for it. Your hands are shaking. You’ve never killed anyone, have you?”

“No, but she had,” Daniel jerked Leland’s arm, making her flinch, “She killed my sister! So I’m going to kill hers,” he moved his hand to point the gun at Maggie instead.

Maggie smirked and took slow, deliberate steps toward him, “Are you really? You’re going to kill your childhood friend?”

His confidence seemed to waver, but he gave a confident, “Yes.”

“Maggie-” the Doctor started, but she held up a hand to silence him.

“Stay out of this!” she snapped, coming to a stand in front of Daniel, the barrel of his gun inches away from her chest, “I know what I’m doing.”

Daniel looked unsure now.

“You want to kill me, Dan? Best place to shoot, is right here,” she wrapped her hand around the barrel of the gun and moved it, taking a step forward so that it was pressed against her forehead, “Do it. Pull the trigger.”

Daniel swallowed.

“KILL ME!” she shouted.

He set his face and determinedly put his finger on the trigger and looked like he was trying with all his might to pull the trigger.

“Do it! Do it for your sister! For Evangeline! Come on, Dan!” Maggie yelled.

His nostrils flared in anger for a moment, and then his eyes filled with tears, “I can’t.” Daniel lowered the gun. He let go of Leland, who rushed to her sister.

“Go to the Doctor,” Maggie instructed.

Leland obeyed.

Daniel sunk to his knees, crying.

Maggie crouched in front of him before gingerly taking the gun out of his hand and slid it away from them against the cement floor. She put her hand on the side of his face and wiped away his tears. He leaned into her touch and practically collapsed against her chest, sobbing. She wrapped her arms around her broken friend and held him tightly.

“I’m so sorry!” he sobbed.

“I know,” she said softly, “It’s alright, Dan. You’ll be okay.”

“She’s gone!” he cried.

Maggie held him while he cried, doing her best to comfort him.

The Doctor was holding a shaking Leland in his arms a few yards away, watching Maggie as she comforted her old friend who had just held a gun to her head, determined to kill her, only a few moments ago.

Leland looked over at her sister and her former captor where they sat on the ground, “You love her, don’t you?”

The Doctor looked down at her and blinked “What?”

She looked up at him,“Maggie. You love her, don’t you?” she repeated.

He blinked again. Did he love her? He didn’t know. He did know that if he did love her, it wasn’t the same way he loved Rose. Maggie wasn’t Rose. No one was. But Rose wasn’t Maggie, either. Using that logic, it was entirely possible that he did love Maggie.

He shrugged, “I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it.”

Leland nodded and looked back at her sister, “Where’s Milo?”

“We left him with your dad,” he reported.

“They saw eachother?” Leland asked.

He nodded.

“How did that go?”

“About as well as a lead balloon trying to float.”

She chuckled, “At least it didn’t catch fire.”

The Doctor chuckled as well, “Right you are.”

Maggie helped Daniel to his feet, “You alright?”

He nodded, “I will be.”

“You give me a ring anytime, okay?”

He nodded again, “I will. You too, Mini Maggie.”

She laughed, “You haven’t called me that since we were twelve!”

He smiled, “You sure?”

She nodded, “I’m pretty sure I would remember if you had called me that since then.”

He chuckled, “True,” then Daniel looked at her oddly. Odd because he had never looked at her like that before. Then he did something Maggie never expected him to do in a million years.

He kissed her.

Maggie froze in surprise and then shoved him away from her, “D-Daniel, what- what the hell?!”

His mouth opened and closed like a fish, “I-I’m so sorry, I-”

The Doctor appeared, standing in front of Maggie like a thoroughly pissed off guard dog, “I think it’s time you went home, Daniel.”

Daniel nodded and left, “I’m sorry, Mags. Really, I am.”

Maggie couldn’t breathe. Her breath stuttered in her chest and her chest felt like it was folding in on itself. The Doctor turned to her and approached her carefully.

“Maggie,” he said softly, “You’re okay. You’re safe.”

She nodded as her knees buckled and she collapsed to her hands and knees, hyperventilating.

Leland rushed over, but the Doctor held her off, “Give her some space.”

Leland nodded, but stayed close in case she was needed.

The Doctor dropped down beside her and pulled her into his lap. He hushed her gently and started to unweave her hair from its braid to releave the tension on her head as she curled into him, bunching his jacket in tight fists, and burying her face in his neck, wetting it with her tears as she tried to calm down.

“It’s alright, love,” he promised, “You’re safe.”

Maggie worked on trying to breathe properly as the Doctor took slow, even breaths.

“Breathe with me, Maggie. You can do it,” he encouraged.

She tried to match his breathing, but couldn’t for a while. The Doctor continued his deep breathing, softly giving her encouragements and praising her for doing so well. She was shaking against him. He carefully unraveled her fingers from his jacket and laced them between his own, kissing the knuckles on each hand. 

“You’re almost there, love. You’re doing so good.”

Finally, she was breathing normally and her shaking had stopped, but she didn’t move from her position in the Doctor’s lap.

“I’m gonna move a bit, okay?”

She nodded.

The Doctor stretched his legs a bit so that the blood flow could return to them and adjusted the way she was sitting.

“You alright, love?” he asked.

She nodded again, sitting up a little and taking a shaky breath, wiping her face with her hands, “Fine. We should go. Leland needs to get back to Milo.”

She got up walked to the car, the Doctor close behind her and Leland bringing up the rear. They all piled in and Maggie started the drive back to her childhood home.


	14. Chapter 14

Maggie didn’t even bother knocking on the door to the house, picking the lock quickly with a bobby pin she had in her hair to keep some fly aways tucked where they should be. She pushed open the door and waltzed right in.

“Maggie!” Leland scolded, hissing to keep from waking anyone.

“What?”

Maggie looked around the entry way as she walked around it, looking for any changes. She got to the hall and heard someone roar before trying to hit her with a baseball bat. She saw it in the nick of time, ducking out of the way and quickly disarming them. She slammed them against the wall with her forearm against their throat, growling.

“Maggie?”

She blinked, “Papa?”

“What are you doing?” Miguel asked.

“Picking up Milo,” she said simply.

There was a gasp and the light switched on, “What’s going on?”

“Mama,” Leland said.

The Doctor touched Maggie’s arm gently, “I think you can let go now.”

She started and quickly stepped away from her father, hunching in on herself a little, “I’m sorry, I-” she looked around, not sure what to do, her anxiety spiking as she realized what she had done.

“It’s okay, mija,” Migues assured calmly, approaching her as if she were a cat ready to bolt at any time.

She took a step back, unconsciously keeping any part of her body as far away from him as possible, “I could have hurt you.”

The Doctor frowned at her body language and the timidness of her voice. There was something she had kept from him. Something that she was telling him now without using her words.

“And I you. But we’re both okay,” Miguel promised.

He gently put a hand to her cheek and she shied away from it before it gently made contact. After a moment, she leaned into it, having missed the gentleness of his touch.

“It’s alright, Maggie.”

Maggie relaxed a bit, but her body was definitely very much wound up like a coil waiting to be released. Miguel pulled her into a hug and held onto her as though he would never let go.

The Doctor started edging his way around the room, getting closer and closer to the front door, not sure how to help Maggie get out of this, but wanting to be on the other side of the room of her mother and sister in case they were on Miguel’s side instead of Maggie’s.

Esperanza thought he was trying to leave, “And where do you think you’re going?”

He turned to face the tiny but fierce woman, “Oh me? I was just-”

“Going to stay right where you are,” it was practically an order and it was clear she expected it to be treated as such.

“Right. Yeah, exactly.”

Maggie and Miguel pulled away from from eachother and Miguel eyed the Doctor in a way he didn’t particularly like.

“So Mija, who is this young man?”

Maggie took this opportunity to move closer to the Doctor, giggling at some secret joke, “This is the Doctor, Miguel. Doctor, this is the man who’s sperm impregnated Mama to create me, Miguel.”

“Maggie!” Esperanza scolded.

“What? He’s not my father anymore, he disowned me!”

Miguel ignored his daughter, “Just the Doctor, is it?”

The Doctor shook it, “Yeah, that’s me.”

“Doctor of what, exactly?”

The Doctor shrugged and answered noncommittally, “Oh, you know… stuff.”

“Right.”

Maggie pulled discreetly at the Doctor’s coat sleeve, signalling to him her wish to leave.

“Well, we should probably get going, then. Lovely to meet you all,” the Doctor started moving back towards the front door.

“She is home,” Miguel said firmly.

Maggie glared at him as fiercely as someone can glare at a person their terrified of, “This house hasn’t been my home in twelve years.”

“But it can be,” he said.

She shook her head, “Just because you apologize, doesn’t mean twelve years of hurt go away. You also haven’t apologized for the seventeen years of hell that you put me through and even if you did, I wouldn’t forgive you. This isn’t my home. It never will be.”

“Where will you go?” he said, as though he couldn’t possibly imagine anywhere else on the planet she could possibly go.

“Where I was when Leland called me. I have a life, Miguel. Believe it or not. And It’s not in New York,” she snapped and looked up at the Doctor, “Let’s go.”

He nodded and lead the way to the door. Maggie followed behind him.

Miguel caught her arm, “Don’t you walk away from me, young lady.”

The Doctor turned and glared daggers at him, noticing Maggie’s wince of pain from Miguel’s grip, “I’d let go of her if I were you.”

“Are you threatening me in my own house?” Miguel asked.

“You’re threatening my friend. I’ll threaten you wherever I want,” The Doctor said in an even tone, scary calm.

Maggie jerked her arm, trying to get out of her father’s grip, but it only tightened, making her cry out in pain. In a sudden burst of fury, Maggie kicked him between the legs. Miguel’s grip on her arm loosened as he doubled over in pain and she used the opportunity to rip her arm out of his hold and rush to the Doctor, who caught her in his arms and held her for half a moment before pushing her back behind him.

Miguel yelled furiously, “You little-!”

“If you ever come near her again,” the Doctor warned, “I will end you. And if I ever hear that you’ve laid a hand on Leland, Esperanza, or Milo, I will end you, do you understand?”

Miguel looked up at him and found the rage of a thousand worlds behind the deep brown of his eyes and decided that he would be true to his word.

The Doctor looked between Esperanza and Leland, “If he ever hurts you again, you call Maggie and we’ll come and take care of it, alright?”

They both nodded, masked relief on both of their faces.

The Doctor nodded once and carefully lead Maggie out of the house. She got in the car and drove back to the garage.

When she had parked and shut off the car, she got out, took off her jacket and threw it across the bonnet. She sat against the front bumper and braced her arms against it at her sides, trying to stop shaking. The Doctor sat beside her and looked at her arm, revealed by the removal of her jacket. It was red and angry and already bruising. He brought his hand up to it and gently brushed it with his thumb.

She flinched away and then remembered that it was the Doctor and gave him an apologetic smile, “Sorry.”

He immediately removed his hand, “No, I’m sorry. You have nothing to be sorry about.”

“I’m sorry you had to see all that,” she said.

He shook his head, “I’m just glad I was there.”

She nodded, “Me too. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t been.”

_ I do _ , he thought, but chose not to voice it. Or dwell on it. Instead, he opted for, “Are you alright?”

She shrugged, “I think I’m dissociating right now, so…” she trailed off.

“Understandable,” a pause, “So what now?”

Maggie looked over at the disassembled engine of the mustang that was scattered about, “I’d like to finish that if I can.”

“Not tonight. Tonight you need to rest.”

She nodded and then offered an amused smile, “Doctor’s orders?”

He chuckled, smirking, “Doctor’s orders.”

She nodded, “Fair enough. Laland’s with my parents, so we have the cot in the office tonight instead of the car.”

“Or the Tardis is around the corner, if you’d rather sleep in an actual bed.”

She leaned against his shoulder, “That sounds better than the cot. Could we just sit here for a little while first?”

He put his arm around her, resting his hand on her hip, “Sure.”

They sat there, not really saying anything as Maggie drew comfort from his closeness. Nothing could hurt her with the Doctor near. 

After a while, she looked up at him, “Could we go see Jack after we’re done here?”

The Doctor felt that pang in his chest again, the jealousy that squeezed both his hearts, “Of course we can.”

She let out a sigh, “Thank you.”

“Do you want to go see Benny while we’re here?” he asked.

She shook her head, “No. He’s better off without me.”

They moved to the Tardis, Maggie locking everything up behind them, and went to their room. They changed into pajamas and got ready for bed before getting into it. Maggie took up her usual place with her head on his chest and her arm draped over his stomach. She visibly released all of the built up tension in her body as the Doctor brushed his hand up and down her arm, careful to avoid the forming bruise on it.

“You know I’d never hurt you, Maggie,” the Doctor said suddenly, “Don’t you?”

She hummed in affirmation, looking up at him sleepily, even though he was blurry without glasses or contacts, “‘Course I do. You’re far too kind for that.”

He kissed her forehead, “I’m glad you think so.”

“I don’t think so, love. I know so,” she said confidently.

He smiled and pressed his cheek against the top of her head, “Thank you for reminding me.”

“Anytime.”


	15. Chapter 15

It took a day and a half for Maggie to restore the Mustang to her satisfaction.

“What now?” the Doctor asked.

“Lock it up and leave it for the next time I need it,” she said.

“Won’t someone take something?”

She shook her head, “I own the plot of land the shop is on.”

“You do?”

She nodded, “Dan bought it and let me sign the papers. This whole shop is mine.,” she tucked the envelope she had found in the Impala into an inner pocket of her jacket.

“Oh. That was nice of him.”

Maggie shrugged, “We were best friends at the time. Would have done anything for eachother.” she started walking towards the exit, “Come on. Can’t lock it up from in here.”

The Doctor followed her out.

Maggie locked up the shop and went to the Tardis. She smiled and ran a hand down the familiar blue wood.

“I missed you,” she told the Tardis before unlocking it with the key around her neck.

They walked in and Maggie went and took a shower before getting dressed in something comfortable and sitting on the edge of the bed she and the Doctor had been sharing for who knows how long. Time was a funny thing. Especially in a time machine. She tapped the envelope against her thigh nervously. Maybe she should wait until she was with Jack to open it. Not that she didn’t want the Doctor to know what was inside, she just needed Jack’s support. Jack provided a certain comfort the Doctor would never be able to. He grounded her in a way only Milo had been able to. And even then, it was in a completely different way. She sighed and pushed a hand through her still wet hair and then pushed her glasses from where they had slipped on her nose. She would open it with Jack.

Maggie pulled out her phone and considered calling him, but put it away again. She would see him soon enough. She put the envelope in the drawer of one of the nightstands and stared at the wall. She was definitely dissociating. She started fiddling with her hands, not really paying attention to what she was doing. Maybe she should find a book to read. She got up and went to the library. At least, that was her intention. What ended up actually happening was that she wandered the halls of the Tardis aimlessly.

Maggie eventually just sat on the floor against the wall and leaned her head back, staring into space. She didn’t really know what to do. She didn’t know if there was anything to do. She felt… numb wasn’t the right word, but it was all she could come up with. She reached for her bag to get her pencil and sketchbook, but then realized she left her bag in the bedroom. She sighed and rubbed her face.

“Looking for these?” the Doctor asked.

She looked up at him between her fingers and saw that he was holding out a new sketchbook and a pencil. She frowned, hands falling from her face, “Where did you get those?”

He shrugged, “Picked them up a while ago. Figured you might need them at some point,” he sat beside her and offered them to her.

She took them, “And you, what, you just carry them around all the time?”

“Pretty much.”

She was stunned. “You carry them around in case I need them?”

He nodded, “Yep.”

“Why?”

He shrugged, “Why not?”

Maggie was still very confused, “But, why?”

“Because it’s a way to take care of you. And I’m always going to take care of you, Maggie Hale,” the Doctor said.

She nodded, “Oh.”

They sat there for a few moments before she spoke again.

“Doctor?”

“Yes, love?”

“I think I need to go to bed.”

“I can’t help but agree.”

“Will you stay with me?”

“Always.”

The Doctor helped Maggie to her feet, took the sketchbook and pencil from her hands and put them back in their place in his coat, and put his arm around her to lead her back to their room. Once there, they both changed into their pajamas and climbed into bed. They lay on their sides facing eachother and Maggie reached out and took the Doctor’s hand and held it to her chest to remind herself that she was still alive, that she was alive for a reason, and that she had a reason to stay alive. That reason was right in front of her and it had funny brown hair, kind brown eyes, and a warm smile. That reason was the Doctor.

Maggie scooted closer and snuggled into him. He wrapped his arm around her middle and pressed his forehead against hers. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. As long as she was with the Doctor, she was safe. She always was and she always would be. As long as they had eachother, everything would be okay.

In the morning, the Doctor woke first, laying on his back with Maggie practically lying on top of him, asleep with her head on his chest and half of her body covering his with her arm over his stomach, hand clutching his shirt, and her leg thrown over both of his. The way she was positioned, it was almost as though she were protecting him from some unseen and unknown threat, even in sleep. He understood now, that it wasn’t  _ as though _ she were protecting him even in sleep, it was  _ because _ she  _ was  _ protecting him even in sleep.

The Doctor felt his chest grow warm as he had that realization.

He pushed some hair that had fallen in her face out of the way and gently put his hand to her face and brushed his thumb across her freckled cheek. She was beautiful. There was no disputing it. The warm feeling grew in his chest and as he realized what it was, he grew increasingly happy and terrified. At least that explained the jealousy he felt over Jack. A sour taste filled his mouth as he thought about Jack. He carefully climbed out of bed, doing his best not to wake Maggie, got dressed and went to the consol room to think.

When Maggie woke, she woke to an empty bed. She panicked for a moment before remembering that they were safe in the Tardis and that the Tardis was impenetrable. She sat up and stretched and scratched her head and then fixed her hair so that it sat comfortably on her head. She got out of bed, dressed, brushed her teeth, decided against tackling the task of brushing her hair and went to the nightstand. She took out the envelope and put it in her pocket and made her way to the consol room where she was sure the Doctor would be. He was there, sitting in the chair, waiting patiently for her to wake up and get ready for the day.

“You ready to go?” he asked.

She nodded, stifling a yawn.

He got up and started flipping switches and pressing buttons, “Off we go then.”

When they got to London, Maggie didn’t bother grabbing a jacket. She’d barely made time for putting on her black high top converse before going out the door.

“So where’s this Torchwood place?” Maggie asked.

“Don’t worry,” the Doctor said confidently, “Jack will find us.”

She gave him a funny look, “How do you mean?”

“He’s right there,” the Doctor nodded to a space over her shoulder.

She turned and spotted that familiar vintage coat and mop of black hair. She grinned and ran to him, “Jacky!”

He caught her in his arms and they embraced. “Little Miss Maggie,” Jack said fondly.

She smiled, pulling back a little, “I missed you.”

He kissed her cheek, “I missed you, too.”

They hugged again.

The Doctor caught up to them, “Captain.”

“Doctor,” Jack and Maggie separated, “How are you guys?”

“I’m good,” the Doctor answered.

Maggie gave a little one-shouldered shrug, “I’m a little…”

“Off?”

She nodded, “I was hoping we could talk.”

He smiled, “I’ve got just the place,” and held an arm out for her to take.

Maggie looped her arm through Jack’s and the three set off to wherever Jack ended up taking them.

Just the place ended up being Jack’s flat.

“Drinks or ice cream?” Jack asked, shedding his coat.

Maggie thought for a moment. For the first time in a while, she found the need to tell herself that she doesn’t ever drink for a reason and sighed, “Ice cream. I don’t drink.”

The Doctor found something that interested him in the living room and started tinkering.

Jack led Maggie to the freezer and opened it up, revealing cartons of Haagen Dazs and Ben and Jerry’s, “Pick a flavor.”

Maggie picked a coffee flavored Haagen Dazs and took the spoon that Jack offered. She opened the small carton, peeling the plastic film from the top and throwing it away while Jack selected his own flavor. He then took her by the hand and led her to his bedroom where they sat on opposite sides of the bed, Maggie choosing the head and leaning against the headboard, and pulling pillows into their laps while they started to eat their ice cream.

“Alright, Mags. Spill,” Jack said.

So she explained everything that happened in New York, except the bit about what happened at her parents house, and finished by pulling the envelope out of her pocket.

“You haven’t opened it yet?” Jack asked.

Maggie shook her head, “I’m nervous as to what might be in it.”

“You want me to open it with you?”

She nodded, “Please.”

Jack moved to sit beside her and held out a hand. She placed the envelope in it and he looked at it.

“You’re brother must have been hot,” he said with a smirk.

She smacked him.

“What? Only hot guys have handwriting like this!” he defended.

Maggie rolled her eyes, “Just open it, you dummy.”

He did.

Inside the envelope was a necklace with a simple silver chain and a small but heavy silver cross hanging from it. Maggie covered her mouth with her hand.

“What is it?” Jack asked.

“We couldn’t find it,” she said, her voice thick with tears that threatened to spill, “I wanted to bury him in it and we couldn’t find it.”

“This was Milo’s,” he understood now.

She nodded, “All these years it’s been in this envelope in his car.”

“I guess he wanted to make sure you got it in case something happened to him. Do you want me to help you put it on?”

She nodded, “Thank you.”

Maggie pulled her hair to the side as Jack clipped the necklace around her neck and let go.

“Is there anything else in the envelope?” he asked.

She looked, “Looks like there’s a letter.”

“Do you want to read it?”

She shook her head, “Not right now. Later.”

Jack nodded as she put the envelope in her pocket, “Okay. What do you want to do now?”

She looked into her ice cream carton and frowned when she found it empty, “I don’t know.”

They were silent for a while before Jack spoke up.

“So…” he said, “You kissed the Doctor.”

She flushed and shrugged, “I thought I was going to die.”

“You weren’t planning on coming out of that warehouse alive were you?”

Maggie shook her head, “The only plan I had wasn’t even a plan. I just wanted to keep my sister and the Doctor alive.”

“I think you should talk to him about this,” Jack said.

She let out a wry laugh, getting up to go to the kitchen to take care of her spoon , “And how do you suppose I bring that up? Hey, Doctor, you know when I held Dan’s gun against my head? I fully intended on him blowing my brains out,” she scoffed, “That’ll go well.”

The door swung open and the Doctor tumbled in, right into Maggie. When they had regained their footing, the Doctor looked thoroughly embarrassed, “I was going to knock.”

Maggie quickly left the room, heading for the kitchen. The Doctor looked at Jack who gestured after Maggie.

“Well go after her.”

When he found her in the kitchen, she was very focused on washing the spoon she had used to eat her ice cream. After the first awkward silence Maggie and the Doctor had ever endured had stretched a fair amount, she cleared her throat.

“So, uh, I guess you heard that, then?”

He scuffed the toe of his shoe against the floor, his hands in his pockets, “Er, yeah. Yeah, I did.”

She nodded, “Right.”

“Want to talk about it?” the Doctor offered.

“What is there to talk about?” she turned so she didn’t have to face him and busied herself with something- anything- else. 

“I dunno. Maybe we could start from the beginning? It’s usually as good a place as any,” he suggested.

“What do you want me to say?” she whispered, her voice cracking as she leaned against the counter with her back to him.

“The truth.”

She pulled in a breath, “I knew what Dan was going through. He had just lost his sister and needed someone to blame. If he blamed Leland, that was fine. I just needed to be able to protect her by any means necessary.”

“You were willing to die for her.”

“For both of you. And I thought I was going to.”

The Doctor nodded, though she couldn’t see with her back to him, but said nothing.

Maggie sniffed and suddenly realized she was crying. It seemed that’s all she did nowadays. “Would you please say something? Yell, scream, I don’t know. Just- just say  _ something _ .” she turned and found herself face to face with the Doctor, who pulled her into his arms.

“That was a very brave thing you did,” was all he said, his voice soft and gentle in her ear.

Maggie stiffened at his embrace, “You’re- you’re not mad at me?” she asked in a small voice.

He shook his head, “Not in the slightest.

“But… But I tried to get myself killed.”

“I know.”

She spluttered some more, trying to form some sort of coherent sentence. All she could think of was, “I thought you’d be furious.”

“For trying to protect someone you love? How could I be angry at you for that?”

Maggie pulled away from the comfort of his arms, trying to think straight, and looked down at her shoes, “I tried to get myself killed.”

The Doctor looked down at her, “I know.”

She looked up at him, “Why aren’t you angry with me? I tried to leave you. Sort of. In a way. In a very permanent way. I suppose I would have left everyone, but you in particular-”

“Maggie?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re rambling.”

“Oh.”

She paused for a moment, “I tried to get myself killed, Doctor. That would have been breaking my promise. I promised to stay with you forever.”

The Doctor smiled softly at her, “ I know. But you said goodbye.”

She frowned in confusion, “I- what?”

“When you kissed me in the car before going in. You were saying goodbye,” he said.

“Yes. I… suppose I was. Did. Whatever. What’s that got to do with anything?”

“It’s more than you got from Milo. You were still trying to take care of me even when you thought you were going to be leaving me forever.”

Her frown deepened, “I always try to take care of you, Doctor.”

“I know. Now it’s your turn to let me take care of you,” he gently took her face in his hands and wiped away the drying tears from her cheeks, kissing the crown of her head, “You’ve got a lot of trauma to process.”

“I don’t know how to let anyone else take care of me,” Maggie admitted, “I’m so used to being alone.”

“Now that you’ve got me, you’ll never be alone again, Maggie Hale.”

Maggie wrapped her arms around his middle and hugged him tightly. The Doctor held her just as tightly.

“I’m here,” he whispered, kissing the top of her head, “I’ll always be here.”


	16. Chapter 16

A few hours later, Maggie was sitting on the counter (Jack had called her a heathen and told her to get off his counter, to which she swatted him on the arm and pulled a face at him) watching Jack cook and listening to the Doctor go on about some sciency thing or another.

“Soup’s up!” Jack announced.

He and Maggie set the table while the Doctor helpfully took his seat, followed shortly after by the other two of their party.

“So what’s next on the agenda?” Jack asked.

The Doctor and Maggie looked at eachother and shrugged simultaneously.

Jack chuckled, “Alright, what about a plan for tomorrow?”

Maggie grinned, grabbing a spoon to dish herself some food, “Come on, Jackie. You should know better.”

“Right. Sorry. How could I forget? We’re the Make It Up As You Go Crew.”

“Exactly.”

“So what have you been up to, Jack?” the Doctor asked.

“That’s classified, Doc. Hate to disappoint,” Jack said.

Maggie rolled her eyes, “You’re such a drama queen.”

Jack shot her a wink, “You know you like it.”

She scoffed, “Only cuz it’s you.”

“Cuz you love me,” he said in a sing-song voice.

“Do I?”

Jack gasped and faked hurt, “I’m wounded, Mags.”

They held eye contact for a moment before laughing.

When they settled, Jack looked at the Doctor, “You’re awfully quiet, Doc.”

He blinked as if coming out of his thoughts, “Sorry?”

“You’ve been quiet, love,” Maggie said, “What’s on your mind?”

The Doctor stared at her for a moment, still blinking. In his mind, all he could see was the look of pain and fear mixed together on Maggie’s face when Miguel grabbed her arm. He never wanted to see that look on her face again. He cleared his throat, “Nothing. Just lost in thought. What were we talking about?”

Maggie didn’t believe him, but decided not to press him, “We’re trying to think of where to go next. Any ideas?”

He hummed, trying to clear the anger that had clouded his mind at the thought of someone harming her, “Have we been to Egypt yet?”

Maggie shook her head, “No we haven’t.”

“Want to meet Alexander the Great?”

Only when she smiled at him was the Doctor able to think clearly.

“That sounds like an adventure I’d like to go on. Would I dress like an Egyptian?”

The Doctor chuckled, “Up to you, darling.”

“Fair warning,” Jack said, “The guy’s kind of an-”

“Language!” Maggie cut him off.

He chuckled, holding his hands up in surrender, “Alright, he’s not very nice.”

She shrugged, “He was a prince turned king who conquered Persia. That’s bound to inflate a guy’s ego.”

“Fair enough.”

When they finished eating, Maggie connected to Jack’s speaker and played some Louis Armstrong. She sang a bit as she did the dishes - which was a fight, but she insisted that since Jack cooked, she would do the dishes. The Doctor had wanted to help too, so she washed and he dried. One of Louis’ duets with Ella Fitzgerald, Dream a Little Dream of Me, started playing and she started to sing a bit louder and sway to the music.

“You’ve got a good voice, Mags,” Jack complimented.

She smiled bashfully, “Thanks, Jackie.”

The Doctor swept Maggie into his arms, making her laugh. In his not-so-humble opinion, her laugh was the true music of the moment. She rested her head on his chest, closing her eyes and letting out a sigh of content as they swayed to the music, still humming softly.

He surprised her again when he cut in with Louis’ part of the song. She giggled and continued to sing Ella’s part. They kept dancing slowly and Maggie caught sight of Jack with an impish grin on his face as he held up a camera. She buried her face in the Doctor’s chest in embarrassment and felt more than heard his chuckle rumble in his chest as he kissed the top of her head. Even after the song ended and a new one started, he and Maggie kept dancing until Jack tapped the Doctor’s shoulder a few songs later.

“Mind if I cut in?”

The Doctor passed Maggie off to him without protest, though he felt that ache in his chest again. Jealousy. By the stars, he didn’t know or understand why jealousy would grip both of his hearts in a grip like a vise as he watched his two friends laughing sa they danced with their cheeks pressed together as Cheek to Cheek played through the flat. Suddenly, he remembered what Leland had asked.

“You love her, don’t you?”

When the question had been posed to him a few days ago - had it really only been a few days? It felt like ages - he didn’t have a clue. Now he had an idea and frankly, it terrified him.

The last tie he had let himself love like that, that woman had been ripped away from him. Everytime he allowed himself to care for someone, that someone had been hurt. Ah, well. If he already cared for Maggie, that much was obvious even to him, why not allow himself the honor and joy of loving her?

Maggie glanced over at the Doctor, “He has his thinking face on,” she told Jack, “What do you think he’s thinking about?”

Jack glanced over at his friend and hummed, “Probably some star in a far off galaxy.”

She hummed, “Maybe. Maybe he’s thinking about the best way to confuse us next.”

He chuckled, “He doesn’t need to plan that, it just happens.”

She rolled her eyes fondly.

“Or maybe he’s thinking about you,” Jack suggested with a shrug.

Maggie scowled at him, “Why would he be thinking of me.”

He shrugged, “I don’t know. I think of you all the time. Both of you.”

“You could call, you know,” Maggie said with a small laugh, “I’ve a phone. And, y’know, it’s a  _ phone _ box.”

Jack only spun her around and dipped her, making her laugh.

When they finally decided it was time to sleep, Maggie and the Doctor went back to the Tardis. Maggie changed into leggings and a crop top sweatshirt and sat in their bed with her back against the headboard, her sketchbook propped against her knees as she drew, and her glasses resting where they had slipped towards the tip of her nose. The letter Milo had left her in his car lay at her feet, unopened and still in its envelope.

The Doctor sat beside her and glanced at the page she was drawing on, “Who’s that?”

“Milo,” she said.

He nodded, “What’s in the envelope?”

“A letter he wrote to me.”

“Ah, have you read it?”

She fingered Milo’s cross, “Not yet.”

He looked at it, “Is that new?”

“Sort of. It was Milo’s. He left it for me in the envelope.”

“I feel like I’m pulling teeth here, Maggie,” the Doctor said.

She looked over a thim, pushing her glasses back up to where they belonged, “What do you want me to say?”

“I just want to know you’re alright,” he said softly.

She shrugged, “I’m always alright.”

He narrowed his eyes, “No you’re not. I’m the king of ‘always alright’ and that always means you’re not. Tell me what you’re thinking.”

She looked back at her drawing, “I miss him. I miss his hugs, his smile, his terrible singing, I miss all of it. And now I’ve got this letter from him and… I dunno.”

“You’re scared.”

“Wouldn’t you be if you found a letter hidden somewhere for you to find from one of your family members?” Maggie looked back at him.

“I’d be terrified.”

She nodded, “There you have it then.”

“You want me to read it to you?”

“Would you?”

“‘Course.”

The Doctor grabbed the envelope and pulled out the letter. He carefully unfolded it as he took out his glasses and put them on before clearing his throat and starting to read.

“Dear Magster,” he started.

Maggie gave a soft chuckle.

“I hope that you never end up having to read this, but I’m writing it anyways. I’ve had this bad feeling for weeks now, and I think something terrible is going to happen. In case I’m right, I’m putting my cross in the envelope for you to have.

“If something does happen, I hope you never forget me and never forget how much I love you. I hope that you’ll finish school, chase your dreams, and find someone to grow old with. Maybe you could name one of your kids after me. Unless Lele has kids first. Then she can do it. Either way, I want a nephew with my name if I die.”

Maggie laughed, “You idiot. How’d you know Leland would get married before me?”

The Doctor continued, “Live a happy laugh, Maggie. One full of love and laughter. Give Mama and Lele a kiss for me and Benny a hug.

“I love you, Mimi.”

Maggie was smiling and crying at the same time.

“You alright, love?” The Doctor asked.

She nodded, sniffing, “When I was learning how to talk I couldn’t say ‘Milo’ so I called him ‘Mi-Mi’.”

He smiled softly at her.

She looked at her half finished drawing of Milo and gave a little laugh. “I called him Mi-Mi until I was seven. Still did sometimes when we were messing around. He was my best friend.

“You two loved eachother a lot,” he said.

She nodded, “Yeah. We did.”

The Doctor opened his arms to her, “Come here.”

They lay down in eachothers arms and Maggie assured him that she really was alright.

“I know,” was all he said.


	17. Chapter 17

They stayed in Cardiff before going anywhere else., spending time with Jack and just taking a few days to have a lie-in.

Maggie was in the library in the Tardis reading a book she had picked at random, sitting in her favorite chair to read. She sat there reading for hours.

The Doctor came in and gave her a cup of tea before going to select his own book to read and sitting in the chair beside Maggie.

After a while she looked over at him, “Doctor?”

He looked over at her, peering over the rim of his glasses that sat on the end of his nose, “Yeah?”

“Do you know anything about soulmates?”

He frowned, “Yeah, but they’re more myth than anything.”

“How do you know if someone’s your soulmate?” she asked.

“Well, no two pairs are the exactly same, but there are similar cases. Some people have matching birthmarks, others have a red string tied around a finger that only you can see that connects you to your soulmate, the first words that your soulmate ever says to you could be written on your wrist, being color blind until you meet them, and any combination of those things. But, like I said, they’re more legend than anything.”

“What about having dreams of their memories after you meet?” Maggie asked carefully.

“That’s one of the rarer ones, but yes. It usually only happens to those that are a mixed species couple.”

“Like a human and a timelord?”

“Well, if there were any left, yes. I suppose. Why?” he looked over at her only to find her staring at him with disbelief written all over her face, “What?”

She raised an eyebrow at him, “For being one of the smartest people I’ve ever met, you are so thick.”

“What?”

“Use your head, you idiot!”

The Doctor wracked his brain and then his jaw dropped, “Oh! Oh my-”

“Yeah. I know.”

“Oh my-”

“Yep.”

“You and me-”

“Uh-huh.”

“We’re-?”

“Yep. We’re bloody soulmates.”

He started laughing, the biggest smile she’d ever seen spreading across his face as he sprang to his feet, taking off his glasses and throwing them on a little table.

“I always thought they were a myth!” he exclaimed.

She grinned, “I guess not. I mean, how else would you explain us having dreams of eachother’s memories?”

“I-I-I dunno. Soulmates. We’re soulmates.”

Maggie suddenly got fidgety, “Look, if-if you don’t want to do all the soulmate-y things,” she frowned to herself. Soulmate-y things? She shook her head and tried again, “If you just want to stay friends, I understand,” she sighed, exasperated at herself and worried that he would just want to stay friends, and wouldn’t look at him.

He scuffed the toe of his shoe against the floor of the library, “Do you? Want to just stay friends?”

Time to be honest. Both with herself and the Doctor.

“Honestly?”

His hearts dropped to his stomach.

“I really, really don’t.”

His head snapped up to look at her, “Really?”

She nodded, “Yeah.”

He grinned, “Brilliant! That’s so, so brilliant.”

She glanced up at him, “Really?”

“Yes.”

“So you want to-?”

“Oh, my Maggie Hale. Nothing would make me happier.”

She grinned and nodded, “Right. Okay. Good.” she paused, biting her lip nervously, “Gonna be honest, the only experience I have with all this is Camryn, so I have no idea how to do this properly.”

“That’s okay,” he took slow steps towards her, “Because I’ve got some idea as to how it’s supposed to go,” he stopped in front of her and offered his hand, “And we can go as slow as you like, love.”

She took it and he pulled her to her feet before putting a hand on her cheek, holding her face reverently. His thumb brushed across her cheek a few times as he leaned in slowly until their noses bumped into eachother.

He paused, “Can I kiss you?” he asked in a soft whisper.

“If you don’t, I’ll be very cross with you,” Maggie said.

The Doctor chuckled, “My Maggie Hale,” and kissed her.

He kissed her soft and slow, as if she were something to be savored, not devoured. Maggie had never been kissed like that before. He kissed her and held her as though she was meant to be cherished, kept safe. He held her as if she were something more precious to him than the stars.

When they broke apart, Maggie giggled.

He smiled fondly at her, “What?”

“Soulmates. That’s so weird.”

He chuckled, “Isn’t it just?”

They stood there in eachothers arms, giggling a bit until the Doctor spoke again.

“Weird is good. I like weird.”

She laughed, “Good. Because I’m not normal at all,” then she frowned.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Well, I just realized. You’re over nine hundred years old. I’m just a blip in your life. You’re going to grow old without me.”

He shook his head, “Your life span will match mine. And I think after we- erm,” he cleared his throat, “Consumate this… your biology will change a bit to match mine.”

“So I won’t just be called the Lady of Time back in New York. I’ll actually be a time lady?”

He nodded, “From what I understand, yes.”

Maggie grinned, “We’ll actually be able to stay together forever.”

“Until the end of time,” he confirmed.

She kissed him.

“I do have to warn you, though. My face will change as time goes by,” he said.

“I know. I read a book on timelords yesterday. You’re a very interesting bunch.”

“A bit, yeah.”

“What face is this? Maggie asked.

“This is my tenth.”

“So we still have time.”

“We have all the time in the world, Maggie Hale.”


End file.
